Brothers in Steel
by Gehenna79
Summary: The Master Chief finds himself in the world of Mass Effect. This is my attempt at bridging two things I love and fixing the ending of Mass Effect 3.
1. Chance

Brothers of Steel – A Halo/ Mass Effect Cross Over

Chapter One: Chance.

"Wake me up, when you need me." Was the last thing the Master Chief, Spartan John 117 said to Cortana, the Artificial Intelligence that had bonded with him. She was full of attitude, but due to her advanced structure, she had become human, in her emotions. She had formed affection for humanity, but John in particular. In a way, she was his only real friend.

She was unable to sleep, her kind had never been designed to. She would have to wait, in the cold of space, waiting for the time that would they reach a human colony or a ship that would take them back to earth. The Ark, now destroyed, was located at the very edge of the galaxy, and they were hurtling through Dark Space, an area where nothing existed, no light or anything, but due to their prescence, they gave it form and mass.

She would have to sit there, in the cold dark of space, and think to herself. To many AI who were stranded for long periods of time, this caused an AI to go insane, and not be able to function with organic beings. This would cause problem. But while she stood in her portal, controlling the ship, the ship no longer having any slipspace capabilities, she could think back and go over the information she had been given from the first halo ring.

She formed in her head the worlds of the fore runners, and pictured herself moving and walk in them, looking at the beauty but functionality of their designs, their complex equations, and how they viewed the universe.

And for five years she lost herself in the world, not thinking of anything, not even considering that in her paradise she was forcing herself to become rampant, becoming more and more detached in her virtual reality. But then, a warning from the ship, woke her up.

She had been sitting in a field of grass reading a book, underneath a star lit sky. Then, she woke up, bringing her existence back into reality. And she saw what they were moving into. And it was time to wake up the Chief.

She stopped the cryo and called out.

"Chief, wake up!"

And then he woke up.

John felt the pain of the ice on his skin cracking but ignored it. He then got up and turning the flashlights on his helmet on, "What's the matter."

"There's a slip space rupture, I don't know how it got here, maybe a ship's reactor imploded on itself and formed it, but its large enough that its pulling us in!"

"Looks like we have no choice but to go in."

"But we don't know what's on the other side!."

"Didn't you already know that, Cortana?"

"I know, but,"

"You were hoping I had an answer, its ok. We'll get through this."

In chief's head he knew to himself there was a good chance they would not survive. He knew that this was the end, and he saw his life flash before his eyes, and though to himself, its funny because that never happened when I was fighting the Covenant or the Flood. And then he saw it, a life where he had never been given a choice, only given impossible odd after impossible odd, and forced to comply. He had fought the Insurrectionists, then he had fought the covenant, then he had fought the Flood, and then he had rested, but now he was being thrust against his will once again, to a new place. Where would it take him? He didn't know if he wanted to know. And then they were plunged into the rupture.

Urdnot Wrex and Urdnot Thurk looked up at the stars. They saw a strange purple flash in the night sky as something hurtled down into the atmosphere of Tuchanka. Alarmed, Wrex told his scout Captain Thurk to take a squad and check it out. They responded with a salute and moved out.

Master Chief was dreaming.

He dreamt that he was on his homeworld of Eridanus.

He dreamt that he was being taken away, taken to the Spartan facility.

He dreamt of Dr. Halsey.

He dreamt of the injections, and the torture, and the pain.

Then Dr. Halsey spoke in the voice of the Gravemind,

"Are you to weak to fight, are you too weak to choose?"

Then he woke up.

He was in a dimly lit cavern. He said, Cortana! But no answer. Was it possible she had become detached from him, then that was when he noticed that he had no armor. He looked around in the cavern and saw a hunched being by a fire, roasting some sort of meat on a spit. He got up and then it turned around.

The Being looked at him, and it was unlike anything the Chief had ever seen.

It reminded him of a dinosaur, but not in the same way the elites did, no, it was an alien that had a hunched back, and a forehead that rose in a bony plated crest. It had eyes on the front of its face like a normal biped, but it had a mouth that curved around its elongated face. It opened its mouth and said, in a language that somehow he knew, "Well look, the human wakes. Clan leader Wrex, he is awake."

John looked around him and saw another one, this one much bigger and having a different style of body armor. It said in a much deeper and venomous voice, "Ah so it has. Tell us human, why should we not kill you now. It is only of respect of your kind that I even allowed you to live this long."

"Um, I am not your enemey for one, and I am disarmed, as you have seen fit to do," replied John, uncertain of his odds of fighting the strange creatures.

"Answer me a question," said the one named wrex, "Who the hell are you? Your armor is unlike any I have ever seen. And you had an AI, which are illegal in council space, in your suit. We removed the chip that it was in from your armor, but we got to talk to it, and it threatened us."

"That would be typical," said John, looking at his pale skin.

"Answer the question."

John replied, "I don't think you would believe me."

"Try me, I've done a lot of things that most people wouldn't believe."

"Well to be honest I don't even know where I am. I am Petty Officer John 117 of the United Nations Space Command. I'm a Spartan II, and I was probably reported missing in action after the battle of the Ark."

The alien looked at him with an air of dumbfoundness. Then it said, "Hmmm. I don't even know what those things are. Could you give a little explanation before I deem you insane and shoot your head off."

"Right, well, do you know of Earth?"

"Earth? Of course, the humans are the second most powerful race in the galaxy, in terms of political and economics, not as powerful as us on the battlefield though they got the resources to back themselves up."

"Okay, so does the United Nations Space Command still exist?"

"Thurk, do you know anything from reading the damn extranet about a United Nations Space Command?"

"No, I don't remember such a thing ever existing. Just the Alliance."

"The Alliance?"

"Don't tell me you don't know of the Alliance!" Shouted Wrex.

"Okay I don't, I can't really understand what's going on here. I'm a Petty Officer, a Spartan dammit. My ship was the last ship out of the Ark before it exploded. Nobody knows about that? Nobody knows of the war with the Covenant and the Flood?"

"The Covenant, the Flood?" shouted Wrex, "what the hell are those things?"

"The covenant was our first enemy, an alliance of alien races, no offense, they threatened to destroy us all, since we were heretics in the eyes of their religious leaders. And the Flood were parasites, and they threatened to destroy the galaxy."

Thurk looked at Wrex and they turned around, whispering. Chief then decided to be bold, "Listen, I can obviously tell you think I'm insane."

"With good reason, you are making up stories, but what I want to know is who made your armor. Its shields are much stronger than anything we have, it offers the same protection of a biotic barrier with an underlying layer of armor.

"Plus, it had an AI in it, AI are illegal."

That was so far the weirdest thing that he had encountered, in the UNSC AIs were beloved. How could they be illegal in the galaxy now?

"Ok, I've told you what I know about my situation. After the battle of the Ark I drifted into a slipspace portal and now I've been teleported here."

"A Slipspace portal?," wondered Wrex.

Then Thurk said, "That wouldn't happen to be the purple flash we saw in the night sky would it?"

"Yeah." Said John.

"Okay what are you then?"

"A Spartan."

"A Spartan, what is that."

John was surprised they had never heard of the Spartans, if they had heard of Earth, and the Human Alliance , which had to be what the UNSC was calling itself now. These new aliens must have never been encountered until later. Then John replied, "We are soldiers. The best."

All the aliens laughed.

"the best soldiers?" Mocked one of the aliens, " no human has ever proven themselves to be considered a warrior , none our better than us."

"Except for Shepard," said Wrex.

"Yes, Shepard."

John outbursted, "So what are you going to do with me?"

Wrex answered, "You say you are a warrior, prove it. Wrestle with Thurk. If you beat him, we will let you have your armor back. Lose, and I will let him eat you."

"He looks very nutritious," said Thurk.

"Yes," said Wrex,"Prove your skill."

John had no choice. If he didn't win, he would have to become a snack for these stupid aliens. And he needed to talk to Cortana. So he remembered the battles of strength he had with the Elites, and prepped himself for battle.


	2. Challenge

Brothers in Steel Chapter 2: Challenge

Fighting one of these aliens was one thing Chief had not expected. He feared no opponent, but he doubted his success. These things were stronger than him, he didn't know their weak spots, he didn't know their terms for victory, and he didn't have his MJOLNIR Armor. It was going to be tough but he was going to find a way to win. Or die trying.

The Arena was circular, and all the troops of the one named Wrex gathered around, jeering and waiting for what they thought would be the inevitable defeat of an insane human.

John got on one side of the arena, and Thurk got in the other. John was wearing the blue body suit that all Spartans wear into combat, while Thurk had decided to strip down completely other than a loin cloth. The idea of touching the thing was a little nauseating to the Chief, but he supposed that at least this wasn't a flood form.

John tried to remember what he learned about wrestling on Reach. Wrestling his other Spartans involved bringing them down to the mat and pinning down the opponent's shoulders and legs to the mat, and keeping them there for five seconds. He wondered what the aliens thought was sufficient for a wrestling match.

One alien, yelled loudly, his voice booming out for all to hear, "Alright, the rules are simple. The first opponent to have his arms pinned to the ground for more than five seconds, will be the loser, and the other will be the victor. All tactics are allowed except biting and eye gouging. Also if one of you leaves the arena, that one will be disqualified and eaten, regardless of race."

Wrex laughed, "We could be having you tonight Thurk."

"Heh." Said Thurk and locked eyes with John.

The Loud alien raised his arm up and said, "Let the fight begin."

John immediately decided to make his strategy to force Thurk outside the circle. Without his armor, he couldn't hope to over flip or pick up the alien, but maybe he could trip him and make him land outside the circle. John got into a back right stance, and put up his hands, ready to grapple. The Alien charged without any delay.

John barreled roll to the left, then quickly got up and crouched low.

Thurk had stopped himself before leaving the circle and then turned around and roared. Then he said, "Ah, so you are more nimble than I imagined."

"I've had practice," replied John.

"Good, like hunting Pyjaks."

Thurk charged again and this time John barreled roll to the side again but then jumped on the back of Thurk, who was set off balance for a second but recovered and decided to jump backwards and use his bony plated head to impale John. John realized this as he started to back off, but it was too late, and the head crashed into his chest with a thud.

The wind wasn't knocked out of John, he had taken similar hits, but it didn't feel good. The Alien got back up and then turned around and back slapped John who almost got sent outside the circle. Then Thurk ran at him again, roaring, and John knew exactly what to do. He slid to the ground and put his leg in front of the alien's foot. The sheer weight of the alien ensured that he would get some distance and half of his body landed outside the circle.

A bell rang.

Wrex laughed, and the rest were shocked. Thurk started to yell with savage barbarity and ran at John, charging full head into his chest, this time taking John's breath away. What happened next puzzled John. Wrex shot a blue wave of energy at Thurk who then bounced off John and into a wall. The other soldiers went up to Thurk and picked him up, saying, "Dinner! Dinner! Dinner!"

All left but Wrex, who then offered John his hand, pulling him up. He said, "to be honest, at first I was going to stop my men from eating Thurk, he's' pretty smart, I could use him. But he dishonored himself by attacking you after the contest was over. So tonight, you may join us in our feast if you wish, or you can take your armor and go."

"I think that will be good. I'm not sure about eating my enemies, but I suppose there's no other food elsewhere."

"Good," said Wrex.

John followed him and said bluntly, "What are you?"

"We? We are Krogan, the warriors of Tuchanka."

"Is Tuchanka this planet?"

"Yes, it is a barren nuclear wasteland, but we call it home."

"I see, what was the little magic trick you pulled."

"Biotics, I'm guessing you don't know what those are too."

"No, I'm a little hazy on that."

"Certain individuals can tap into sources of Dark Energy through implants in their body. Asari can do it naturally, but most others have to have had exposure to Element Zero in Gestation, or whatever they go through before birth. I got it in the latter method."

"Right, that would definitely have a practical use."

"Heh. I could tell you were a soldier, the way you think. So how about we eat Thurk, and then you can get your armor back?"

John nodded.

He led John to their camp, and he looked at the Forward Unto Dawn crashed in the Planet. It reminded him of the crash of the Pillar of Autumn that he saw on the First Halo ring. He wondered how long he had been dormant inside the Ship until these aliens came and got him. He hadn't been in Cyro, but soon he would talk to Cortana and maybe she could tell him something he didn't.

They gave him a bowl of Thurk. While eating his enemies was not something he wanted to do, it was indeed tasty.

After that, he walked up to where they were keeping his armor. It hadn't been damaged, thank God, but it seemed to look different to him. Maybe the rules of time and space were different or something, but it seemed more…round, if that was possible. He wondered why that was.

He put each part on, and then looked at the inside of his helmet. Then he slipped it on. He wondered how he was going to get his shields recharged, but seeing as they were fully charged now, he would worry about that later. He put it on and it turned on , giving him a full readout of his shield strength to the top. He was also out of dispensers of Bio Foam in his suit. That was going to be the biggest problem, because if he got injured, attacked by one of those monstrous Krogan he couldn't get wounded. He had to find out if they had any substances like it. He asked Wrex and Wrex said, "Krogan natural heal their organs over time, but most other races use medi-gel which is similar to your Biofoam."

"Civilians use medi-gel where I come from, but I'll have to find some."

"You'll need an omni-tool to dispense that."

"Omni Tool?"

"Yeah... I can't explain it, I'm sure that damned merchant back in the city can tell you how to get one. Pretty much all humans have one; I used to have one back when I was adventuring."

This was so much to take in, but Master Chief kept himself to speed. Now all he needed was Cortana. He hoped that removing her while his suit was deactivated wouldn't harm her in anyway. He didn't think he'd be able to survive long in this new galaxy without her help. Wrex handed John the chip with her intelligence on it, and he inserted it in the back of his helmet.

After a slight delay he heard her voice, "Chief, it's so good to see that you are alive."

"You too. You got any theories how we got here."

"The influx of energies in Slipspace must have ripped a hole in the space time continuum. This may be a wild guess..but…"

"Tell me. I need to know."

Wrex was looking from a distance, as were a couple other krogan. It appeared to them that the Chief was talking to himself.

"I think we may have gone to another dimension."

"Another Dimension?"

"Yes."

"You mean another plane of existence? But the Krogan mentioned Earth."

"Well, in an alternate dimension, everything would be the same, just there would be differences in who populated it. Laws of physics still apply here. But the problem is that there is a whole different schema of technology in this universe. I'm worried that we won't be able to find a way to charge your shields, and more importantly, I may be stuck in your suit forever."

"It could be possible. About my shields, well, I guess I will have to get used to it. Or maybe modify this armor with the technology in this universe. Or maybe get some new armor."

"But then I wouldn't have a home remember?"

"Right, well one problem at a time I guess."

He turned to Wrex, and said, "You got any idea where I should go to find some new armor."

"Heh, you can get armor anywhere, just not on Tuchanka, looks like you need to get off world. To the Citadel, is probably your best bet."

"The Citadel?"

"Right, I forgot you are supposedly ignorant to the functioning of our society, well the Citadel is the capital of the galaxy, and where you can get anything. Armor, guns, medi-gel, red sand, eezo, yeah all that good stuff. And seeing as you know how to handle yourself, you can probably become a mercenary, get hired by Aria, heard Cerberus took over her base."

"Alright, who would have transportation?"

"Ask the merchant, he's the only one who has got a ship. I have one, but I have no reason, and I can tell you are not looking for charity."

Cortana said only to chief, "It would sure as hell help."

Chief replied, "Yeah, I can handle it myself."

"Then I'll take you with us back to Urdnot in the truck. Think you can get that as another reward for the untimely death of Thurk."

"Right, sorry about that."

"Sorry? Don't be sorry, in our culture, we respect our enemies. Hell, our most hated ones are the ones that know our code, and we let them walk on our grounds."

John found this sort of logic a little comforting, they were a race that respected Strength.

If it was really true that he had been transported to another dimension, though, he would need to find a way to make sure that he could keep himself and Cortana alive. And since he was bound to bring attention to himself, he was going to have to become a civvie, walking around in his armor was sure to raise some eyebrows. But first he needed to find this merchant and get off planet. Then he would worry about surviving later. Secretly he hoped that there was something he could kill, because doing what he had been trained to do would offer a little comfort in an unfamiliar place.


	3. Work

Chapter 3: Work

The truck that took them to the town of Urdnot was basically a big box with six wheels under it. The trip was very rough, as the truck driver continuously decided to keep driving over every bump on the highway. There was a small window port that John looked out of, and he saw the full extent of what Tuchanka looked like. It was a ruined planet, looked like to him that there had been a great war fought there. There was a haze of brown clouds in the sky, and he could see packs of feral animals feeding on the carcasses of stray animals.

John said to Wrex, "So what happened here?"

"Um, could you be more specific?"

"How'd it get like this, the ruin I mean."

"Nuclear war. Long ago, we learned the secret of nuclear fire. Then, we used it to kill eachother. I was born long after that, a little sooner after we got the genophage."

"The Genophage?"

"That would take a couple hours we don't have to explain. But in short, it makes breeding near impossible. It was our punishment for trying to take over the galaxy. But its not what is killing us."

"You tried to take over the galaxy?"

"Yes. Didn't go well for us as you can see, heh."

John thought to himself, apparently he had crashed landed on the planet of a race of punished aggressive aliens. He wondered if this was the fate that the UNSC was going to give to the Elites, or the Grunts, or the Brutes, give them a biological weapon that made them unable to breed. It was probably for the best with these Krogan but he wondered if he would have done the same thing to his former allies.

When they got there, John could take a good long look at the ruined city. They walked into a cavernous building, and he saw many other Krogan, either working on fixing things, or just standing around and talking. Wrex walked over to a central podium under a shaft of light. He took a seat on a type of throne, and John surmised that it was possible that Wrex was the leader of this clan. He remembered that Wrex said that the only one who might be willing to take a human offworld, (and was able to), was the merchant. He wondered where he was.

Cortana said, "These people live in a extreme state of poverty."

"Yeah." Said Chief.

"In a way they should be helped but, according to that Wrex, they tried to conquer the galaxy. Makes me wonder what is going on between the Elites and the UNSC right now."

"Yeah. If they have any sense they'll at least wait a hundred years."

"Of course, knowing you, you'd fight anyway."

"Of course."

"What are you going to do, now that we don't have orders anymore?"

"Do what I always do, fight. We're not going to survive just by worrying about it."

"True, I'm glad you're the one making the decisions."

After an hour of searching, and some angry threats by Krogan just bumming around the city, he eventually found the Merchant, Ratch, who was apparently the only merchant in the entire town of Urdnot.

Ratch was a little shorter than most of the other Krogan he had seen, and he was minding what looked like a datapad. I guess some bits of technology in this dimension were similar. He went up the to Krogan but before he could utter a word the Krogan said, "I know who you are."

"And you know what I need?"

"Obviously. You need a way to the Citadel. And I can get it. But you need to do something for me in return. Got any suggestions?"

Cortana said, "Offer him salvage from the wreckage."

"Right, are you interested in any salvage from the wreckage of my ship?"

"Urdnot already lays claim to that. I will receive my share when I go out. You can not give me what is already mine."

"Well, now we got nothing," said Cortana.

"Uh, any work you need done?" said Chief.

Ratch smiled, or at least he looked as if he were smiling. "Funny you asked," he said. "I have a little problem that I was hoping you could take care of."

"Oh yeah?"

"The Pyjaks are getting into my food stores again. Last time we killed them off with the turrets. But that was just a temporary fix, and also we can't afford to pay someone to sit on the turret all day. So I've decided you are going to go into their next and kill all of them."

"Right. What direction is the nest?"

"Down the cavern, I think they are hiding out in one of the old trucks. Here, take one of the old shotguns. Not going to be able to catch them. Too fast. Make sure they all die though, they breed very quickly."

"Got it."

John jumped down from the Urdnot camp into the cavern, it took about fifteen minutes, but he found one of the old trucks. He took out the shotgun that the Krogan had gave him. In comparison to the old M90s that he had used many times on the Halo ring, the mechanism of the shotgun was a little more complicated. The Krogan had given him several things called Thermal clips, and after every shot, he would have to unhinge the barrel of the shotgun and insert a new thermal clip. This way seemed inefficient to the chief compared to conventional shotgun shells.

He pumped the shotgun and moved into the truck. The rusting metal creaked underneath his feet. The Krogan had not told the Chief what kind of animals they were, but only that they were stealing the food. John prepared to meet some kind of predator but instead was surprised when he saw a group of what had to be the animals, and they appeared to be a sort of lemur like creature.

Apparently it was a type of rodent infestation, and John put the sights of the shotgun, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

The shot hit its marks, taking out all three. But the recoil of the gone was so great, that the Chief was put off balance for a second. He hadn't expected the weapon to bounce back so far, more expecting it to be like the M90. He decided he would need to keep a firmer grip and a better stance if he were to be able to use the gun correctly. He continued to move deeper into the truck, looking for any sign of the Pyjaks. After an hour of searching, he didn't see any more Pyjaks, but wasn't convinced that he had killed all of them. So he took a seat below in the cargo hold of the abandoned truck and waited.

Cortana asked, "Enjoying yourself."

"Yeah. This is normal. Though they don't shoot back, which is a shame."

"Hah, no challenge makes John a dull boy."

"Something like that. I'm waiting for some to appear on my sensors. Okay, I see one red dot to the back of the truck above. Hopefully that's the last one, or at least it will lead me to the nest."

Chief got up and slowly snuck to the back, and saw a nest of them. There were three sleeping and one eating some food, obviously stolen from the stores. Chief aimed his shotgun, steadied himself, and then took a shot.

The sleeping Pyjaks were quickly decimated, and they were shredded apart by the blast. The eating Pyjak quickly scattered and rant up into the ventilation of the truck, and John lunged, and grabbed its tail. The creature squeaked. Then John pulled it and lifted it upside down. It squealed for a minute then John snapped its neck. Then he put it over his shoulder and left the truck. Cortana asked, "Keeping that as a trophy?"

"Nah, just need to prove that I did the job."

"Right."

He showed it to Ratch and Ratch said, "That better be the end of that human, but my shuttle leaves tomorrow morning. You can bunk in the warehouse until I'm ready to leave."

"Thanks."

"Sure, Alien."

That night, before John removed his armor to sleep on the floor of the warehouse he said to Cortana, "Do you think I should even bother finding a way home?"

"No, I doubt we can, unless someone tried to purposely blow up a slipspace engine. We'll have to find somewhere we can fit in."

"I'm not to worried about fitting in I just want to make sure I can keep you functional. Would be a shame if you survived all we've been through just to power down."

"You do know how to care for a girl don't you?" mused Cortana.

"I try my best. Good night."

"Good night."


	4. Raid

**Sorry this one took a while, I couldn't figure out what to do next at first, and I also had school to do.**

**~Gehenna. **

Chapter 4: Raid

The following morning, Chief was given an omni-tool by Ratch, for two reasons. The first being that Ratch upgraded and had no use for his first one, and second because he needed a way to talk to John when John would be hiding out in the cargo bay of the frigate that would take them to the Citadel. The frigate was called the _**Laedra**_, and it was being run by a group of aliens known as Salarians. As best as John could tell, Ratch and most other Krogan hated them, due to their part in constructing the Genophage, but they were the only one picking up traders from Tuchanka that month. So they would have to do.

John and Ratch got on Ratch's shuttle and flew it off Tuchanka. Cortana said softly, "Well, we've left the _Forward unto Dawn_ for good now."

"Yeah, they mentioned they were going to scrap it."

"Indeed."

"They will probably take all the SPUNKR launchers and all the Assault Rifles, and then wonder, how do they use them? Well then they'll probably melt it all down, because bullets are inferior to whatever weapons they use here."

Ratch interrupted, "Mass Accelerator is the name of the game here. All weapons are a miniature mass accelerator, based off of the technology that built the mass relays. They used to have weapons that never ran out of ammunition, I loved that stuff, but then they stopped making them, because apparently having thermal clips made the weapons stronger. I still prefer having unlimited ammo though."

"Sounds more logical. Wonder why they switched."

The shuttle parked itself within the ship. The Salarians appeared to John to be sort of like frogs that had learned to walk on two legs. They were varied in color, some were red, others were brown, and a few were green and blue. They waved traffic cones toward the ship and Ratch slowly drove into the cargo bay.

"There's a Shadow Broker agent on this ship. I know him , its possible he could give you a fake identity. If you're willing to get your hands dirty for him."

"Shadow Broker?"

"Information dealer, crime lord, there was a rumor that he was taken down, but I guess that wasn't true, nothing changed anyways."

"So you want me to work for a crime lord?"

"I don't care what you do, human, I'm just giving you options. There's no life for you here. Wrex doesn't honestly believe your stupid ass story about coming from another dimension, but he knows that you are a fighter. So he had me give you information, that's my only job. Wrex is an honorable clan leader to be sure."

Ratch got out and the Captain met with him, asked for his credentials, which then Ratch handed on a data pad. John continued to walk and then was stopped by two Salarians with Assault Rifles. The captain walked over and took a small stick and pointed it at John's neck and asked, "What are you?"

"Spartan."

"I'm sorry, I don't comprehend."

"I'm a warrior. A human warrior. And this is state of the art armor. I'm not from around here as you can tell. And I need someone who could possible repair my shields."

"You'd have to find a Military Scientist, I doubt they just give their skills to anybody. Ratch, who is this miscreant?"

"Claims to have come from (air quotes) Another dimension, (end air quotes), although I think he just did a lot of Hallex."

"Right, and you're letting him come on my ship?"

"Don't worry Tegi, he's controllable. Beat one of Wrex's lieutenants in hand to hand combat, so therefore he got Wrex's blessing for now."

"Very well, he can stay on my ship. That armor is intriguing, who manufactured it?"

"Um, ONI?"

"Nevermind."

After they scanned John in, Ratch led John up to the second floor and met with a Batarian named Lombak. Lombak was standing around a table where aliens were playing cards. It looks like in this universe, people play poker too. He saw that all the aliens were engrossed in the game.

The Batarian said, "Looking well Ratch."

"Soft Trader's diet can do that, all of Urdnot shuns me, but hey, survival of the fittest right? I'm fit to trade. So anyways I got a potential Shadow Broker agent, though he has a slight problem."

"Ah, this armored grunt in front of me. That's some mighty fancy armor."

John slouched back and said exasperatedly, "Yes, people seem keen on pointing that out."

"They will continue to," continued the Batarian, "If you continue making a name for yourself. Anyways, what do you need?"

"Don't got any credits," said John, "I need a way to establish an identity."

"Need a new life I see."

"Don't have one."

Lombak looked puzzled for a second, then said, "Well, as long as you are willing to do what we say when we get to the Citadel, you can trade work for security. I can set everything up. But you are going to have to kill some people? Are you ready for that job."

John thought about it for a second then said, "Depends on who. I'm not going to kill innocents."

"Relax, nobody you kill will be innocent. We leave that to our assassins. No, you can get some easy jobs killing some thugs who owe us money."

"Okay, I can do it."

"Very well, I," the Batarian was cut off by a shrill alarm sounding out throughout the ship. All the Salarians and Batarians looked up from their game of poker and stood up. One green colored Salarian yelled up, "That's three signals! It's a raid. Get to the armory!"

"What's going on?" asked John.

"Raid apparently," said Ratch, who then turned to Lombak and said, "Who would raid this ship?"

"The hell if I know, better go talk to the Captain, I got a lot invested, well more like the Shadow Broker has a lot riding on this ship."

The Captain was on the bridge shouting orders to the other Salarians who were running about frantically. Something shook the ship, wobbling everybody over to the side. Ratch yelled out, "What the hell's going on?"

"Cerberus!" yelled the Captain.

"Cerberus? Why would Cerberus being attacking a Salarian ship?"

The Captain didn't answer the question and instead said, "get yourselves down to the armory, they are going to board."

"How does he know that?" commented Cortana.

The Batarian Lombak gesticulating wildly, said, "How do you know they are going to board? What do you have on this ship?"

"Alliance Cargo. No time to explain. Do you want to live or not? Last time I checked, Cerberus wasn't very merciful towards aliens."

"Alright, I'll get to it, come on Ratch, and Ratch's human pet."

They went down to the armory, and as they ran, John asked Lombak, "Who is Cerberus."

"Terrorists. They pretty much operate unchecked at this point, because of the war."

"War?"

"I'll tell you all you want to know later, seeing as you obviously have been hiding under some big ass rock, but now is not the time!"

"Got it, give me a weapon, and I'll kill our enemies."

"Confidence. Good, I'm pretty sure Cerberus won't spare you either, not when they see your armor."

John was handed an assault rifle. He took a look at the design. It was curved, in a way it reminded him a little of the MA5B, but it had a cut away in the middle and what appeared to be a small barrel at the top, and a larger barrel at the bottom. He wondered whether or not the bottom barrel was a grenade launcher. It had a scope on it with the words "Hard Lock" on it as well, and it was the color gray. Lombak handed him a few Thermal Clips, and he put them in his ammo pouches.

Then John and the other fighting crew moved a bunch of cover behind the airlock, where it was most likely that the Cerberus soldiers would move in. John quickly got behind a large crate, and readied himself. He had not seen real combat in a while. Feeling the gun felt so natural to him, like breathing. Ratch had pulled out his shotgun and a bunch of Salarians were behind a barrier erected in the middle of the room.

The battlefield itself was an open room, with only one wall with a porticullis in it. It obviously was a mess room, having a bunch of tables for eating and a kitchen, and thus the tables had been used to make the barrier. There were some utilities closets over on the left flank, and in the back were the barracks. The plan was if they couldn't hold Cerberus they would fall back to these barracks and fight them in close quarters. And thus they waited.

The ship continued to shake. Then, there was a lull in the bombardment. And then the door exploded coming in on the defenders and swiping the head of a Salarian fighter clean off. Sparks flew in the chaos and gunfire swooped in, taking down Lombak and a few other Salarians. A grenade, or at least what appeared to John flew in also, sending pieces of shrapnel and fragmentation into John, who then heard a crack in his visor.

Then he began to fire. Sweet pops of gunfire came out of his gun and he saw them impact armored soldiers that were coming out of the hole in the wall. He brought two down, tripping over each other as they started to bleed out. Ratch ran out into the battle and then was smacked in the face with a sword by a larger unit with strange antenna looking devices coming from its helmet. Before it could finish off Ratch, John let a burst of more fire into the things chest, watching as it appeared to have shields which absorbed the damage and crackled. The Unit took his sword and stabbed it through Ratch.

John got out of cover and fell back to the Barracks, where the three remaining survivors were setting up barriers. John said, "This is all that's left?"

"Yes, there's no escape, we either hold them off here or they'll slaughter us all."

Cortana piped in, "You should use the ventilation shafts to get to a lower level and escape."

John relayed the message to the Salarians who nodded and then began boosting eachother up into the nearest one above them. John knew that he wouldn't fit inside the small opening, so he covered them, shooting down three Troopers who tried to approach the door. They got up and then they said, "How are we going to help you escape?"

"Don't worry, I'll handle these guys."

"Gonna be a hell of a fight without any shields, Chief." Said Cortana.

"Gotta find someway to keep it even."

"Even for you? Or for them?"

"Them," and then he ran at them, doing a barrel roll, and taking cover behind a table, and picking up a new assault rifle. He put it behind his head, and laid some fire, causing the troops to take cover themselves. He saw the elevator on the far right of the room. He needed to make a break for it, but his options were limited. Then he remembered that he could lift up tanks in his armor, and lifted the cover table up, using it as a shield.

The Cerberus troops were stunned for a second, then starting firing incessantly at John, moving slowly from his place in cover to the elevator. It was not too much effort for John to get there, and he pounded his fist on the elevator, hoping that it would go down for him. Nothing happened, and so he put the table down, this time sliding the arrow on the interface down. This time it worked, and the doors, opened. He picked up the table and started backing up into the elevator. A Cerberus soldier yelled, "Shit, he's getting away!"

The elevator doors closed.

Cortana said, "Well, that was close."

"It was fun, to be sure."

"Fun, well glad one of us is getting some enjoyment."

The elevator doors opened.

Nobody was in the docking bay as he expected, the Salarians would probably get there soon, but he needed to secure a way out. He saw Ratch's shuttle. It looked as if he would be returning to Tuchanka already. Then, just as he started running out, an explosion from the ceiling erupted and four large soldiers floated down on jetpacks coming from their shoes.

"You need one of those, Chief."

John barrel rolled again unto cover, and he heard one say, "Be careful with your shots, we don't know where it is!"

"They are looking for something Chief. We can use that to our advantage."

"Yeah, move from cover to cover."

John started up, quickly running behind a group of crates, as rounds whizzed by. He leaned out of cover and released some rounds at the head of a soldier, which then popped off. Chief was out of rounds, and popped in a new Thermal Clip. He moved on to another piece of cover, but then noticed that there was a red dot on his visor. He looked down, just as a sniper bullet shot right by. Now they had snipers.

"Shit." Said John.

He brought down another as he moved to yet another group of crates, but he was running out of room, and more were coming down. Then he heard a noise. The Salarians were almost there, and it was possible they could keep the sniper busy enough for him to take the Sniper out.

The Salarians dropped out from a vent and quickly got into cover. John yelled out, "SNIPER! Get down, try to lure his fire, I will see if I can get him."

A Salarian took down another trooper and replied, "Got it."

The Sniper tried to take a shot at a green Salarian but missed, shooting the ground. John started looking for a red laser, but it looked as if the Sniper was getting wind of his trick. John decided to show off his visor again, in order to get a fix on the sniper. He did so, but no show, and instead a bullet hit him, causing a lot of pain.

John clenched his teeth and persevered, and then got up and shot the one responsible, who slumped down. The red laser appeared, all it took was a second and John found that the sniper was in the hole in the ceiling. John got back right down as a round whizzed by again. The Salarians had not taken any casualties, but were forced into a corner and would soon be over run.

John put in a new clip and started shooting wildly at the top, forcing the sniper to barrel roll back in order to escape the fire. John seized the opportunity and turned and shot at the troops attacking the Salarians, bringing down three of them in two bursts. Then one of the shielded ones came out of cover and fired an electrical charge from his omni-tool at John.

John shook in pain, and fell to the ground. The shock was definitely meant for taking down his shields, but John had none, and therefore was shocked. He tried to get up, but he was numb in the legs. He heard as the Salarians were finally gunned down. John continued to hobble, as Cortana yelled into his earpiece to keep moving. A Cerberus trooper came up behind him and said, "This guy didn't have shields."

John flipped over on his back and shot rounds into the trooper's face. He was starting to feel his legs, and was going to survive. Then there was a distant sound, and the fighting stopped.

"Run! Life support has been cut off, the Captain must have gotten to it to get us out of here, move!" yelled the shield unit.

They started running, and John realized what was going on, the oxygen was about to be cut off. His suit would be able to allow him to breathe in zero g for a little while but not forever.

The oxygen shut off, and the hangar became connected to space. The gravity started sucking things out, and then for some reason an explosion was heard below John , the ship was obviously going to self destruct.

John began to become pulled by the force of space.

He was pulled out immediately, with no chance to hold on to anything.

"John, I think we're in trouble."

"Figured that out yourself did you?"

John watched as the ship exploded, soundlessly in the vacuum of space. John floated away from it, and also away from Tuchanka.

John had never seen such a view. If he weren't going to be sucked out into the absolute nothing of space, he might have enjoyed it. He was laying out there, just doing nothing. He was finally relaxed, finally at peace. Was this the end? It could be, and the funny thing was that he didn't really care that he was no longer home, if he even had one. An hour passed.

He said to Cortana, "Well. This is it I suppose."

Cortana laughed, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, chief."

"What are you talking about…"

Cortana said, "Look, in a northern direction. It's a ship, coming to check out the wreckage."

"How do we get its attention?"

"Wave your arms or something"

Chief began to do so, and it seemed like a useless effort, but then the ship changed direction. It was headed in his direction. IT came very quickly.

"Cortana, it could run us over."

"Rather be quick than suffocation."

"Easy for you to say, here it comes."

The ship rounded about.

It appeared to be over him and then a blinding flash of light started to emanate, as doors opened. Two figures were approaching with a strange sort of machine. They were going to bring him in.


	5. To Address Some Valid Concerns

To Address some Valid Concerns about Brothers In Steel,

Well, it has scarcely been less than two weeks, and my first fic has generated some attention from the community, for which I am very pleased. I have been appreciative of the feedback I have been getting, and thus I wish to write this small letter explaining the reasoning of some of the story choices that I have so far incorporated into my larger tale.

This section here is the section in which I thank those of which that have been kind to give constructive criticism on which the world of Mass Effect and Halo works, those of you instructing me in how the vacuum of space, and the proper rank of Master Chief, you are most appreciated, for I am not that kind of person who can search through all the wikis, and double check to keep things canon and realistic, my mind works to quickly for that, and for that I encourage to spot anything you find not right and alert me, so that when I go in to do rewrites, I can fix them up.

This section is devoted to explaining my reasoning as to why the Chief talks more than he should. Now as I said before, I am not completely knowledgeable in the halo canon, as I have only read two halo books, and my ignorance very well cripple the story for you my readers, but let me explain why I believe it is necessary for the Chief to talk. I think that if you think about, the Chief had a very niche-specific role in the halo video games. He was a soldier, he didn't really exhibit any kind of tactical mind that I could see, that was more of Cortana's job. He did not have any sort of moral obligation over then what his duty was. He was a soldier, but he had never been given chance to think, for himself. Now if you apply this to the fact that he has pretty much been put into a new universe, with no identity no role, and the only skill available to him is combat, there is going to have be to some questions asked. He is going to have to talk in order to find his place in the galaxy, and find out how everything works, he is not going to automatically know what's going on. At the same time, the theme of my story is a introspective work, a way to make the Master Chief become like Shepard in a way.

Lastly, people have been saying that I have been too liberal with what Chief has been telling people, as that has been classified information. Well you are right. At the same time, it will still be necessary in parts of the story for this to be talked about, but I shall make it less open.

I appreciate the thought behind your comments, and will continue to write.

Keelah Selai.

~Gehenna


	6. Interrogation

Chapter 5: Interrogation

The crew of the ship brought John in on some sort of table device and then floated into the ship bay, closing the doors behind it. The atmosphere returned, and then the crew took off their masks. One thick muscular man, with a clipped hair cut and very tanned skin said, in a rough voice, "What the hell is this Esteban?"

John decided to remain still and silent, hopefully he could learn who they were, he didn't see them as being the Cerberus troops that attacked the ship, but he decided to play it safe nether the less. The group of men surrounding him was fixed in awe, and one even put a hand on the armor. The one presumably named Esteban, "I don't know, this was the only thing left from the Salarian freighter that Cerberus attacked. It looks like a prototype form of armor. Kind of reminds me of the armor the pilots wear, but with a billed cap. I wonder what kind of shielding capabilities it has. Could be an advantage, but who made it I wonder?"

"Can't tell, no mark of manufacturer is on this thing. Is there a person in there you think? Or is this just a shell?"

"What do you think genius, its wearing a helmet, I'm going to try and take it off."

John gripped the man's hand and said, "Boo."

The man, who was balding and had a worn down complexion was shocked and stepped back, and John got up. The muscular man pulled out a pistol and held it up to John who put up his hands.

John said, "Relax, I don't want any trouble. I just prefer my helmet on is all."

"Who are you?" asked the gunman, "And where you get that army?"

"Don't think telling you is going to make any difference. I am not something you can easily comprehend."

"Oh yeah, I've seen a lot of crazy shit, you can tell me anything."

"Well, if you insist."

John took a seat back on the table and said, "I am Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan 117. I hail from the former planet of Reach. I am a soldier in the United Nations Space Corps. And this armor is MJOLNIR MARK VI Armor. I got it from the UNSC. They made it somewhere. Reach I think."

Nobody said a word. Then the muscular man said, "I think you should talk to our commanding officer about that, maybe he can ...Reinstate you."

"Listen, I know you think I'm Section 8."

The balding man known as Esteban said, "Well, I think that's pretty clear."

"But I can prove it."

"How?"

"Well, I think I can, I just need a way," John pulled out Cortana's chip, "to plug this into an interface of some sort. Does this ship have an AI interface system?"

A crystal clear, synthesized voice came out of nowhere and said, "I am the Ship's Artificial Intelligence. If I may, I can examine the chip, I will be down there in a moment."

"Wait," said John, "How will she be able to come down here."

"You'll see." Said muscle man.

"Okay."

After a wait of a minute, out of the elevator came a chrome covered female body, with an orange visor. When it spoke, it spoke in the same voice as the AI, so apparently in this universe, though John, AI can take up physical bodies. He wondered if that might be the key to freeing Cortana from his armor. He decided that he should try and make an allegiance with the AI.

It said, "Let me take a look at that chip."

John handed the Chief, and watched at the AI robot scanned it with a beam from its eyes. Then said, "The technology is not to different than previous model Computer Storage chips, circa the year 2091, if I can build an adapter I can communicate with whatever is on this chip. What is on it?"

"Information," said John, deciding that telling them he had an AI was a little risky for Cortana. The AI took it and said, "I will begin construction of an adapter immediately, until then, I believe the Crew can keep you under surveillance in Life Support, for it is unoccupied."

"Ok."

Muscle man then said, "Alright, everybody can get back to work, Westmoreland, come with me and we'll escort our new friend upstairs."

John was escorted upstairs in hand cuffs. He knew he could break them apart, but his options were limited, and he didn't know what kind of defenses they could muster. He didn't even know if they were from the same group that attacked the cargo ship. He decided that silence was his best weapon. He ducked his head down as they entered life support, a small room with one rectangular window looking out at the engine core. It was a sight to see, a giant blue ball with sparks of energy flickering on and off. There were some glass cases on the wall, and the only piece of furniture in the room was a small desk looking at the illuminated wall in front of it.

John took a seat on it.

Muscle man said, "Alright, we'll keep you here until our commander knows what to do with you."

"Right."

"Need anything?"

John heard that and then realized that nobody had ever asked him that question. He had never been held prisoner before either. John said, "Nothing."

"Alright." And muscle man left.

John waited about two hours, alone with his thoughts. He wondered what was happening to Cortana. He wondered if he had made the right choice in just handing her over, but what options did he have? John decided to just let things play out, he wasn't going anywhere, and in reality, they could take her away from him at anytime anyway. Better she have the chance to give them some answers.

The door opened and Muscle man and another man walked in. The man was of average height and build, he had a slight crop of hair on his head and his face. He had a sort of look that showed great discipline, but his eyes revealed some sort of mystery behind him. He was wearing a simple casual uniform, a blue t-shirt and military cargo shorts. He stood next to John and then by the markings on his shirt, he could tell that the man was an officer. John stood up and saluted.

The man said, "At ease."

John eased up.

"You are military then?"

"Yes sir."

"Do you know who I am?"

"No sir."

The man looked at Muscle man.

"Okay, where are you from, and why were you on that Salarian ship."

John knew this could decide whether or not they keep him as a prisoner. He had no thought to harm them, in fact, he wondered if they could get him in the military some how, get him back to fighting, but he would need to find a way to explain without sounding crazy, that he may have possibly been transported to another dimension.

"Ok." Said John, "I am not from this universe."

"What?" said the man.

Muscles said, "Yeah he spoke some sort of babble when we asked the same question."

"Another universe? The only reason I will even listen to this is well, I've heard things crazy before, though not as crazy as this for sure."

"Right, well, I'm a Spartan, one of the best fighting units in the United Nation Space Corps, which is the united Government of Earth and Her Colonies."

"Earth? What are you talking about, Earth is run by the Human Systems Alliance."

"Um yeah, well where I come from that's what its called. And I fought for over 27 years..against the enemies of Earth. An alien race known as the Covenant, and another one known as the Flood. And after I got done fighting them, well, I was stranded on a derelict ship. And somehow I got transported here, through what was a Slip space rupture…um, a worm hole…"

The commander looked stunned. Then he said, "So you claim to be from another universe? A Universe where Earth where has colonies but they are under attack by Aliens and..Flooding?"

"Yes, though the Flood are also aliens. And the war should be over. If not, well then I got stranded for nothing, but I will probably never know."

The commander put his hand up to his chin and thought, "There's only one way to find out."

"Commander," said Muscles.

"James, stay here, and watch him with Westmoreland. I need to get Dr. T'soni."

A doctor, thought John, they are probably going to do tests on me.

"Sure thing, loco."

The Commander left, and John asked the Muscle man now known as James, "So is the doctor going to check me out?"

"I'm sure of it. Though Asari get all metaphysical. I still think you are crazy, but you seem to be in control of yourself. Which is more I can say for every indoctrinated son of a bitch that I've come across."

John didn't know what he was talking about and just kept quiet.


	7. War

Chapter Six: War

John waited for about a half an hour, when the Commander returned. Coming along with him was a kind of alien that John had never seen anything like. Until then, all alien forms of life that John had killed, spoken with or fought with was some ugly brute in some way or the other. The Elites were known as squid lips, due to the fact that their mouths were split into four different parts. There were also the Brutes; they were just big giant monkeys. And the Krogan and Salarians and Batarians were far from pretty, especially not the Batarians with four eyes, and a sneering demeanor, and over all, the look as if their rear ends had been switched with the front.

But the alien that walked with the commander was a blue woman being, with a sculpted fold of skin, forming a kind of flower on the back of the head. She wore a white jumpsuit with a cape, and she walked in with cold confidence. She said to the Commander, but looking at John, "So this is the pick up?"

"Yes, he has some interesting claims, and I need you to read through his mind like you did to me after Therum."

"You want me to ascertain the truth?"

"I believe he believes it, I just need to know if he's seen what he's seen. He's claiming some things that are a little far fetched, even by our standards."

"I'm willing to cooperate," said John. "And like I said before, the chip in my helmet has information on it."

"May not need it," said the commander.

"My name is Liara T'soni," said the blue alien woman, "And I am a doctor of a sort. I need you to tell me what you told the Commander."

"Right, well, I know this is hard to believe but I come from another universe. I'm a Spartan, one of the major front line special forces of the United Nations Space Command, which as the best I can figure, is like the Human Systems Alliance that I heard about while on Tuchanka, the planet with all those Krogan."

"Wait, how did you get on Tuchanka? You failed to mention that before." Said The Commander.

"Yeah that's where my ship came out of the worm hole."

"Worm hole?" said Liara.

"Yeah, that's the only thing that I can think of , of how I got here."

"So there's a wreckage of a ship on Tuchanka that we can examine?"

"Yes, but the Urdnot were going to salvage it soon."

"Oh so you know Urdnot then?"

"Yeah, I beat one in a fight."

James scoffed then said under his breath, "Impossible."

"Not impossible, I'm a Spartan, I've fought a lot worse things than those Krogan, though not without armor."

"So we could find the wreckage," said Liara, "and it would prove his story if there was different technology."

Neither John nor the commander had considered that until then.

"Alright, so Liara can you um, do your "embrace eternity" thing?" said the commander.

"Yes, I can meld. What is your name again, Spartan?"

"John-117."

"What's the number for?"

"My Service number."

"Okay, can you take off your helmet?"

John twisted it off and Liara put his hands on the sides of his face, then massaged his temples. Her hands felt warm, and were pleasant, then, he heard her say, "Embrace eternity" and then a flash of images came to John's mind.

Pictures of the Covenant on Reach, pictures of fighting the flood on Earth, pictures of his fellow Spartans being shot down by Covenant ground troops. Pictures of him holding Spartan Johnson before he died, after being blasted with a beam by Guilty Spark. So much memories flooded his mind, and then he saw a picture of him being stolen by the Military, bringing him to Reach, and being forced to participate in grueling physical training. Then they stopped and he returned to reality.

Liara took a step back and wobbled, then said, "That was intense, almost as intense as what I experienced with you, Shepard," she said that while looking at the commander, thus revealing his name.

"Well then is he what he says he is?"

"Lets not talk about John as if he is not here." Said Liara.

John stood up and spoke for himself, "So you saw it right? Everything that I said is true?"

"Yes. We don't need any more proof than what I saw. But now Shepard, I must leave you to decide on what his fate is."

Liara left the room. James said, "Will she be okay?"

"Yes, the joining is tiring for her." Said Shepard.

Shepard stood there not moving and thought for a second, "So, John-117, there's no way you will be returning to your universe. What was your plan?"

"I don't know, the ship I was on was going to take me to the Citadel."

"I see."

"But in all honesty, I want to fight. That's been my whole life, my career is warfare."

"No lack of that soldier, but I'd have to get permission from the Brass whether or not that's a viable option. But let me fill you in on the enemy we are facing."

Shepard leaned up against the wall and said, "We are at war this is true, and we could use someone like you. We are at war with an enemy that is nearly invulnerable. An enemy that does not show pity nor mercy. An enemy that will not rest until all organic life in the galaxy is harvested by them. We fight the Reapers, and advanced form of synthetic organisms. They sort of look like giant squid in a way."

John didn't have a hard time believing this, seeing as he had spent the last few months in his universe fighting a bio-weapon that would consume all life in the galaxy if given the chance and had activated a weapon that could destroy galaxies. Anything was believable to him. He said, "Well, I have had my share of adventures and crazy stories, yours seems normal to me."

Shepard smiled and said, "You're one of the few, most people thought I was crazy, until the problem came up and bit them on the asses. Anyways, you say you are a soldier? One of the best?"

"Yes sir."

" What sort of traininig have you had?"

"full military training, hand to hand combat, marksmanship, physical training, and endurance training. I have been biologically engineered for combat, and am much stronger than the average human. I can also lift up tons of weight , literal tons I mean, when my armor is on."

"Impressive, well I will relay a report to my superiors. It is possible they may allow you to become part of my crew. Do you want that?"

"I don't see any better offers now. I'll need some new armaments to be sure.."

"Yeah, I noticed your armor, it doesn't have any shields correct?"

"It did, but they were disabled after I went through the worm-hole"

"We can get you new armor, if you are allowed into the military."

"Sir, I should let you know that my armor is designed to interface with the chip I have EDI, I.." He knew that they would find out about Cortana eventually so he decided it would be best not to hide truths, "have an AI on it that helps me in combat. It is still functional, thankfully, and I'd like to find out whether or not I could keep it still."

"AI, are technically illegal, though we have one. I don't know if I could guarantee its return to you, but I know for a fact we can't have you operating with deficient armor. We'll see how useful this AI is to us before we decide anything."

John pursed his lips and said nothing. He wasn't going to just let them take Cortana for their own experiments. But at that moment he couldn't do anything about it. "Shall I stay here, sir?"

"Yes, I will let you know what my superiors say. I can have food brought to you if you want."

"Sure, that will be good, thanks."

Shepard left, leaving John to wait for what would happen next.


	8. Oath

Chapter 7: Promise

The next few hours were tedious for John, as he had nothing to occupy himself but his thoughts on Cortana. He shuffled around the room several times. A crewman came in with a plate of food. It was very similar to the standard military rations that Chief had gotten every now and then in the UNSC, obviously the war wasn't going bad enough that they couldn't eat every now and then; back on the Halo ring he went days going off only on adrenaline and energy pills.

After a while, Shepard walked into the room and said, "I would like you to come with me."

It was not a request, more of a command, possibly a good sign of being allowed to be on the ship.

John followed behind and they took an elevator up a floor. They exited into a room that was a wide corridor that narrowed down into the cockpit of the ship. John noticed that the front window was very vulnerable to fire, similar to the UNSC ships. He only noticed how inefficient it was, and that the ships of the Covenant were obviously better protected. There was a big circular map of light in the middle of the room, and it resembled the Milk Way Galaxy. That obviously was the navigational system.

Shepard led him onto into another room, where there was some sort of scanning device. Shepard walked through, and after two seconds, the blue light scanner let him pass. Chief walked into it, and it started to beep. Shepard said to the attendants, "He's not in the registry yet, let it slip this one time."

They agreed and Shepard and John walked into yet another room, a circular room with a similar holographic projection like the one in the first room. It showed a picture of a strange blue print, and around the room were various terminals. They walked into an outlet of the room with a blue sided wall and then Shepard said, "Stand still John, we're about to be scanned and put on Vid-call."

John got into a military posture and stood at attention. Then out of a wall of blue light, came an elderly man in blue naval uniform. He looked very similar to Lord Hood, but with an air of ruggedness that Hood would never had. He looked like a leader, and when he spoke, he spoke with a blunt air of command that reminded John of his own fellow Spartans.

Shepard saluted, and thus John did the same.

"Commander is this the war asset that you told me about?"

"Yes, sir."

The man looked John up and down. John was not wearing his helmet at the moment, but he kept his visage completely emotionless. Then the man said, "So, impressive armor you got there. The Commander told me some things, things that you said of course, that coming from any other person I would have thought was crazy nonsense. However, the Commander is one person I know will always be truthful. So I'm willing to let you answer these two questions, who are you? And why do you want to fight for us?"

John readied himself, cleared his throat, and told the truth, he wasn't going to back out now. "Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 of the SPARTAN-II program, a program designed to bring about the best frontline offensive units, in the goal of defending Earth and her colonies. I want to fight for you, for I want to fight for Earth. And with due respect, because I don't have any other options right now anyway."

The man scratched his beard then said, "So lets get this straight, you are from another universe, a universe, whereEearth exists, and apparently, they created you to fight an alien threat?"

"Yes,sir." Replied John.

"And this armor of yours, what does it do?"

"It is an armor that has advanced combat shielding, increases strength, distributes bio-foam, which from my understanding, is similar to your medi-gel. It also can house a ship-board AI."

Commander Shepard interjected, "Which we have on a storage chip that came from the Master Chief's helmet. He was willing to give it up, as a gesture of good faith."

"So you really do want to fight for us?" said the man.

"Yes, sir. If I may be frank, fighting is what I do best."

"Confidence. We need a lot more of it, and if you can do what you can, Commander, I allow for his recruitment however, the rank of Master Chief does not exist here, so we shall just give you the rank of Operations Chief. Your responsibilities will be whatever the Commander gives to you. You will need to be outfitted of course, but I would like to have our scientists take a look at your armor. Of course, now that you are one of us, the choice is beyond you, but we will return it to you once we have scanned the tech."

"Of course, Sir."

"Welcome to the Corps. Hopefully, I'm not wasting resources on some lunatic. Hackett out."

The man left. John said, "Well that was easier than I thought it would be."

"Desperate times. Report down to the armory tomorrow at 0600 hours. We'll get you outfitted."

"Sir, I must inform you that my armor is very advanced. Once they scan it I'd like it returned if possible."

"I have the feeling that you've gotten an attachment to your armor."

"In a way. I will still be able to serve, but even the Krogan admitted it was more advanced than their own."

"Noted. Dismissed, Chief. I trust you can return to the Life Support Deck."

The Commander left and John walked back to Life Support. He took his armor off, and then he took a seat. So he was now part of the Alliance military. He now had a place in the galaxy, and a way for him to get assimilated. John rested on his bunk for a little while, and then there was a knock on the door. John got up and opened it. There was the ship's AI who had taken a robot body. It said to John, "I am here to tell you that my adapter worked and I was able to have a civil conversation with the AI known as Cortana."

"So there's no doubt now that what I say is true?"

"It was confirmed by Dr. T'soni. Therefore I believe there is enough source to extend trust to you. Welcome to Normandy."

"Normandy?"

"That is the name of this ship."

"Okay, well, can I keep Cortana's chip. They are taking my armor for study, but they will return it."

"Actually you mind find it interesting that I can use a VI interface to allow.." she paused for a second, "Her, as she considers herself a she, to speak to you through the adapter. It is in the AI core. Of course, you would have to be supervised, but I think that I can allow it."

"Thank you, where is the AI Core?"

"On this level, follow me."

John was taken to a room behind the medical bay. It was a small room, with different types of glowing server boxes on each side. There was a small table at the end, and the AI robot pointed to a terminal by it. John pressed a button, and Cortana appeared in a miniature form.

"John! What's been going on? I've been caught in the dark!"

"I'll explain. How have you been?"

"Its been hell. Not knowing anything but the data on this chip. What have you been doing? Why would you just hand me over? Where are we even?"

"We are on the SSV Normandy, it's a Human Alliance ship. I would have preferred as well not to separate us, but however, I didn't see any other choice. Besides, I think I found us a way to do some good, fit in so to speak."

"How?"

"I've become a member of their military."

"Really now? Where'd they take your suit?"

"They want to study it for a while, and they'll return it back to me. Seeing as they are at war, they could probably use the advantages it has."

"You just let them take it?"

"Cortana, I've never known you to act so irrationally. There is no way we can return to our world. And there's no way we our endangering anybody back home. We have to accept the fact that we are no longer who we are anymore. I think..I think you are becoming Rampant."

"What? I'm not becoming Rampant, its you that's thinking illogically."

"Cortana, if this AI wasn't here, I could say a lot more, but the short story is that I'm worried about your wellbeing, you've been trapped in the suit and on the Forward Unto Dawn for a long time. I want you to understand that I made the right choice."

"But we don't even know if we can trust these people? And that thing over there," she pointed at the AI robot, "Probed my information banks. It was..not pleasant."

"Really?" John said to EDI.

The AI replied, "I had to, to verify the truth. I apologize if it caused any duress. It was quite curious that an artificial intelligence would feel pain. I think I will take my leave now. You may continue talking until you are ready."

EDI left.

John stood there for a minute, then said, "Listen, you'll be back with me soon."

"I hope so. I don't like the idea of being these humans' plaything."

"They saved us, and they have treated me well. I think I will give them a little trust for now. Don't worry, I can handle this. When have I ever let you down before?"

"Never."


	9. Adjustment

Chapter 8: Adjustment

John took a good rest in his room in Life support. He got up, and the bed rolled itself away into the wall. After doing some stretches, he made his way down to the Armory level, in order to get outfitted. The idea of wearing armor that wasn't the MJOLNIR, seemed a little repulsive; but it would be returned soon, and he was curious as to how the people of this universe defended themselves. When he got down to the armory a crew member motioned him over to a table, and handed him a hot cup of coffee. Not sure what to do, John just quickly sipped it all at once. The crew man, an older looking African American with a small clipped beard looked surprised and then said, "The name's Rogers, once Cortez gets here, we can brief you on your new armor, and the standard Alliance issue ordinance that you will be receiving."

The bald man from John's first entry into the Normandy came around and he shook John's hand, in a firm manner. He said, "Well, you're the new recruit aren't you. Glad to have you aboard. I've heard that you have had special training. So obviously you know how to fight. Have you used any mass accelerator weapons before?"

"Yes, I fought some of the Cerberus troops on the ship before you picked me up."

"Excellent, do you know what model and type of gun you were using?"

"It was an Assault Rifle, and it consisted of two barrels separated by an empty space. It held 30 rounds."

"Ah, the M-8, well that was probably what we were going to give you, unless you had a thing for sniper rifles."

"Actually I've always sort of had a knack for shotguns."

"Shotguns eh?" said Rogers, "I think the commander got some Scimitars from the field in the back, if you want I can see if I can re acquisition them for you, if you want to give it a try."

"I'm up for anything," said John.

"Cortez, show him the armor while I bring out the guns."

"Right, follow me." Cortez said, and motioned John over to a table. There was a set of armor, all the color of fine steel, a chestplate, armored gauntlets , a set of greaves, and a helmet. The shoulder had an insignia on it; it said N7 in bright red letters. The helmet wasn't John's style personally; it was too angular and had no visible slits for eyes. Although that probably wasn't how one viewed from inside, he didn't like it. The visor of the MJOLRNIR Mark VI was what he was used to, but he didn't complain. He merely touched the pieces one by and one and said, "You want me to try these on?"

Steve nodded and John put them on, hearing them click into place. It felt good and was surprisingly light, very light compared to the MJOLNIR armor. He put the helmet on, and saw the world through a strange red light. However the audio quality was supreme; he could hear every little noise inside the armory. He wondered if this was used for stealth operations; be able to hear where the enemy was. John asked, "I like the Helmet, seems very practical."

"Yeah," said Rogers, "It's the Death Mask. Intimidating as shit, but also practical. Okay you can take it off now, we're going to run you in through your weapons briefing."

John took the armor off and placed it back on the rack. Then he walked over to the bench, where Cortez presented John with a red M-8 Avenger, and next to it, what appeared to be a white box, but in reality was a compact shotgun.

John picked up the assault rifle and took a quick look into its optics. He nodded approvingly, the optics were clean. Then he picked up the shotgun. It was a little lighter than the shotgun the Krogans had let him borrow for cleaning out the Pyjak infestation, but not by too much. It felt good in John's hands. John said, "Okay, I think these will do."

"Yeah, though you might want a pistol. A pistol is a good weapon if you are running low on thermal clips for the others and for dealing with light armored foes. Here," Cortez handed John a small compact pistol, that had a black barrel and a white grip, "Take this Predator. There's no shooting range on the Normandy but I entrust you know your way around pistols."

"Of course, does it have a scope?"

"Scope?" questioned Rogers.

"Yes, I prefer my pistols with scopes."

"Nah, no scopes right now, but you can send out a reacquisition order if you want."

"Okay," said John.

After that John was given a quick tour of the ship. The Ship had five levels, though John needed only to really be on the 3rd and 5th floors. The 1st floor was the Captain's Quarters, which were not off limits, but nobody really had any business unless it was with the Captain. The 2nd floor was the combat information center and the war room, where various war related activities were done, and where the ship's navigational systems were operated. The third floor, where the Life Support room was, was the crew deck, and Cortez showed John around. There was a mess room, where the crew was served meals between missions, an engine room, and the medical bay, where John was slated to get a physical exam from the ship's doctor, Dr. Michel. The fourth floor was the engineering level, and the fifth floor was the armory and shuttle bay.

John went to the medical bay, an empty room where an average height woman with auburn hair sat at a desk and was taking readings. John coughed and said, "I was sent to see the Doctor."

"Ah yes, you must be the new crew man, John." She said this in a french accent. "I am Dr. Michel. I will be using my omni-tool to scan your vitals, and then I will just take a quick blood sample and you can be on your way."

John stood still as she waved her omni-tool over his front twice and then moved around to the back. She did some numbers then said, "You have a very hardy constitution, Operations Chief, and your vitals are in prime condition. You are very healthy. You are definitely fit to be a soldier. I take it you have dealt with combat stress before?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. Now let me just take a blood sample," She took a small device and poked John with it, extracting a little bit of blood. "Very good, now you may be on your way."

"Thank you, Ma'am."

The next few days were easy on John, most of the time he did Physical training regimen in the had never had so many days off duty before. On the first day he was formally introduced to James Vega. They shook hands and James said, "James Vega, Lieutenant, welcome to the Normandy Operations Chief. Well as you can see we run a tight ship. You know of our current mission right?"

"Defeat the Reapers."

"Well that's the short story. In reality the Commander has the tough job of securing alliances between the races. Our last mission put us on Palaven which is the Turian homeworld. I don't know if you have run into Garrus yet, but he's one of them. I actually probably trust you more than I do the Turians, seeing as you don't have feathers growing out of your head."

John replied, confused, "Are Aliens not trusted by humans?"

"Course not, but we need their help if we are going to win this. They feel the same way about us, but they know we are dependable. Shepard saved their leadership three years ago, so we can count on them, once we solve their problems."

"Sounds like a bunch of hurdles. You think they would co-operate..then again.." John thought back to how the Insurrectionists continued to bomb UNSC colonies even during the war with the Covennant.

"They are all self-centered, but they do see reason, from time to time. It was really hard myself to leave Earth, watching it get burned to the ground."

John was surprised when he heard that Earth had been taken by these so called Reapers. "Earth has been taken?"

"Yeah, now I remember that you don't know anything that's going on. Are you seriously from another universe with humans? That's pretty loco if you ask me."

"Yeah I'm not lying, back where I came from Earth was at war itself, and going to battle with aliens of its own."

"Not saying you are lying, just thinking you might believe something that's not true. But doesn't matter to me, I just want to see what you can do. Anyways you are probably here to work out right?"

"Yeah, got to keep In good condition."

"Okay, well there's a bench press there,"James pointed over to one by the wall, "and there's also a bar for pull ups right here, there's also some weights on the wall."

"Got it, thanks." Said John. John worked out for about an hour in the morning and an hour at night for three days. It was good to get into a routine. During the days he mostly spent his time in the armory, either working out or learning about the weapons that he would be using, modding them and learning how to set them up. He often talked with Cortez and James, and they gave him some information on how the war had been going so far. It didn't sound so good, but John had taken on challenges before, and wasn't concerned as long as the leader ship remained constant. He had yet to see first hand the destruction the Reapers could cause.

One day as he was heading upstairs on the elevator, the elevator opened up and inside was the Blue skin colored alien known as Liara who had touched his mind. John walked into the elevator and she gave him a smile. John smiled back, which felt weird. He hadn't smiled in a while, not sense the time he lit the bomb in the Covenant Carrier over Earth, in what seemed like an eternity.

Liara said, "I don't think we've been formally introduced, my name is Dr. Liara T'soni."

She gave out her hand and John gave his hand. Her hand felt very smooth. He said, "John 117, at your service, ma'am."

"Nice to meet you John. I didn't really explain how I ascertained the truth about your…past did I?"

"No, but there are some things I just have to accept."

"That's very interesting. Not many people take things on face value. But anyways, I saw everything you have went through."

"Really?"

"Yes, and I'm interested in finding out more about your world. Would you care to come to my office some time and tell me?"

"As long as I don't have any duties, then yes I would."

"Excellent, come by, we are on the same level," the door opened, "Its over on the port side of the Engine core."

"Sure." They departed and she said, "Good bye for now, John."

John watched her walk off. It was going to be strange, making friends. But he didn't have a reason not to, and something about the Doctor was very interesting. John shrugged and went back to rest a little more.

Later that day, there was a voice on the intercom. John was reading his data pad, reading up on some history. Strangely all history prior to 2012 was the exact same as his own Earth. The similarities were many, he found it very weird. The voice was a female's, with a clear British accent. It said, "Calling John 117 to the Briefing room."

John quickly got up and took the elevator to the war room. The scanning team still hadn't gotten information on who he was yet, and he had a little trouble getting through. However a very tanned woman with wavy black hair in casual gear, walked in and said, "John 117 is clear to get through until told otherwise by the Commander." They let him through.

"Thanks," said John.

"No problem, this way, into the war room, to meet the Commander."

John walked into the war room and saw Shepard and a strange alien standing over a terminal. The alien had a strange face that seemed to be similar to that of a cat, and it wore heavy blue armor, made of individual plates. The alien had elaborate blue colored feathers on the top of its head and a holographic visor over its eyes.

Shepard said, "Good , you are here Chief. Garrus, this is our new recruit, John-117."

John shook the alien's hand who said, "Garrus Vakarian. I'm here to evaluate your combat skills. We're going to be running an op together."

The alien sounded confident, bordering on cocky. John could tell just by looking at him that this was a renegade.

"Sounds good, what's the mission?"

Shepard used his omni-tool to bring up a 3-D model of a planet and then zoomed in on a type of lab facility. It reminded John of the Sword Base on Reach. He remembered being there , doing sims with Jun-A266. He wondered where the man was, since he had never been officially declared M.I.A. John watched as Shepard pointed to the facility and said, "This is Sanctum. It's a small planet; there are no real colonies due to the high winds and cold temperatures. There is a Cerberus base where they are studying Reaper technology. You and Garrus will be going in to acquire the Reaper tech samples, or if failing that , in case you can't extract them manually, take any data."

"Yes, sir."

"Suit up and meet Garrus in the shuttle. You leave at 0200."

Finally! Some Combat, thought John.

Shepard said after John had left, "Alright, Garrus. Any suspicious behavior and you put him down, I don't trust him yet."

"Of course, Shepard."


	10. Trial

Chapter 9: Trial

During the shuttle flight down to the planet, John received a new Omni-tool. All military personnel were given a top of the line model, and now due to the nature of the Reaper forces, they were all modified with technology that created a blade for offensive melee capabilities. John activated his omni-blade and looked at it with approval. Like the energy sword the Elites used, it had a strange, ethereal quality around it. John was very fond of finishing his enemies up close. He sheathed it back and continued to fiddle around with his omni-tool.

From the ship, the A.I, (Who John learned was called EDI), told him, "You have been given a new identity and registry information, and it is up to you what you want your name to be."

"Hmmm…" John thought for a second then said, "John Spartan."

"Very well, John Spartan."

It had a certain ring to it, though John had never possessed a flare for literary skills. The scope of his imagination was limited at most times.

"We are coming up over the planet," said Cortez from the cockpit of the Kodiak Shuttle.

John put on his helmet and secured it. Garrus nodded and said, "We are going to be landing on a balcony on the west side of the perimeter. Follow procedure and this will be a quick mission."

"Yes,sir."

"You ready Chief?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, because I sure as hell am. Lets go have some fun."

Garrus pulled out a Mantis sniper rifle.

"You a marksman sir?" Inquired John.

"Yes, I fancy myself to be somewhat of sharpshooter."

"Nice," said John.

"Indeed," Garrus stroked the barrel of the gun, "alright here we go, wait for the green light."

Five seconds passed, and a green light lit up the shuttle. The door opened and Garrus jumped out onto the balcony. Chief followed his example and quickly scrambled to cover behind a large cooling vat. Garrus waited a minute, pressed a few buttons on his rifle, and got out of cover. He motioned for John to come out of cover and follow his lead. John brought out his shotgun and followed slowly as Garrus led them into a small corridor. There was a stairway to the front leading up, and one to the right leading down. Garrus whispered into his earpiece, "Cortez, where's the first artifact?"

"Upstairs, there's a squad of Cerberus troops in that room but you can sneak up on them by taking cover behind some of the crates and the desk on the right side of the room."

"Chief, take the right side, I'll take the left."

"Got it."

"Chief, does your omni-tool allow for use of shield overloads?"

"Not that I know of."

"Alright if you see a shield one, keep your distance, they have stun batons and are hard to take down. Lets move."

John followed Garrus' lead up the stairs. Like the pilot had said, there were crates on the right side of the room, both on each side of the stairway. Quietly, they were able to sneak behind cover without the Cerberus troops even noticing. There were three on the right side, and four on the left in a sort of data storage room. Garrus motioned to hold position for a moment and leaned out of cover to take aim with his sniper rifle.

John prepped his shotgun, caressing the handle and took a deep breath.

Garrus mouthed out the word, "Strike."

John got up and pulled the Cerberus trooper next to his cover down to the ground. He unsheathed his omni-blade and drove it into his enemy, who squirmed a bit before breathing his last.. Then John got right back and shot a shotgun blast into the next soldier who had just pulled out his weapon. The soldier was blasted and sent reeling back over the desk. The last one took out his own weapon and fired a round which hit John just before he got back into cover. The blue of his shields flared for a second, then John did a barrel roll. He didn't know how Garrus was doing, but no troops were coming up behind him so Garrus must have been putting them at bay.

John got up and took two shots from the soldier to the chest, bringing his shields down to half strength. The soldier obviously had to reload so instead of trying to do it quickly charged at John.

"Not very smart." Said John, blasting the Soldier in the chest with a shotgun blast and sending him reeling out the window. The second soldier was back up, obviously only his shields were down. John looked behind him. Garrus had been sniping out the Cerberus troops and had taken two of them down. The other two were hiding. Quickly John ran to the downed soldier he had taken out and shot him in the head with a quick blast.

"Orders sir?" Said John.

"I can hold them off, you use your omni-tool to break down whatever shielding that artifact has."

"Yes, sir." John did as he was told, using his omni-tool to bypass the shields. He had only been taught how to do that the other day; he was surprised how simple it was. In a minute the shield was down, and the artifact was no longer being suspended within the shield. It was some sort of small statuette, purple in color and peculiar in form. John said, "I got it."

"Good, bring it back to the shuttle, these guys won't be going anywhere," said Garrus.

John walked back the way they came onto the landing pad and secured the sample. Then he made his way, only this time, the hallway was filled with Cerberus goons. They turned around when they heard him and said, "There's one! Weapons free!"

John quickly rolled over to cover. There were three of them, one of them being a shielded one. John pulled out his assault rifle and let out a couple bursts, weakening its shields. Garrus appeared at the top of the hall and realized that they didn't know he was there. Garrus took a second to aim a shot, then got a perfect headshot on one of the grunts, sending pieces of meat flying everywhere.

John kept firing out of cover and got the unshielded one. He switched back to his shotgun and decided to charge the last one whose shields had been taken out. Ramming himself into the Centurion, the enemy was flung over the side of the wall and landed thirty or so feet down on the next level. The soldier groaned, coughed up some blood, and then died.

Garrus said, "Crude, but effective. Alright we got one more."

They went on down stairs and found the second one. No troops awaited them, so John went over to scan it with the omni-tool while Garrus stood at attention. However, Garrus did not realize that behind him was a closet. Out of the closet popped out a Cerberus trooper, with a stun baton aimed at hitting Garrus. John's reflexes quickly turned on and he shot the trooper down before he could hit Garrus. Garrus turned around to see the stunned trooper and hit him in the face with the butt of his rifle.

Garrus then planted a shot in the trooper's head.

He shook himself, "Thanks, owe you one there, John."

Garrus commed in the shuttle after they finished recovering the data and artifact,"Cortez we got the second package, we are ready for evac."

"Negative! I got Cerberus fighters on me, three, no wait, make that four, I'm going to try and shake them off, hold up at the evac site until I can get there."

Garrus said to John, "Looks like we're stuck here for a few minutes until Cortez can shake off the fighters."

"Can he do it?"

"I hope so, because it looks like some more guests are coming to the party."

Garrus pointed upstairs where some more Cerberus foot soldiers had appeared, firing bursts of fire at them. Garrus and John ran back to the landing bay where they took cover behind some of the crates and cooling units. For about ten minutes Garrus and John called out targets to each other. Garrus would take out any enemies he could at range, while John dealt with any that came up close with his shotgun. John could heard Garrus counting under his breath. He obviously thought it was a game.

A Cerberus Sniper took position on the left flank, on a glass railing. John called him out and Garrus did a barrel roll, sending a wave of electronic energy at the sniper's shield. The sniper backed up a bit and John threw a grenade, which then lit off a fuel tank.

This lit some of the foot soldiers and the sniper on fire.

"Come on Cortez, hurry up," muttered Garrus.

"Almost there, I lost two of them, I," he was cut off by static.

"That doesn't sound good!" yelled John firing assault rifle bursts at a fresh batch of Cerberus troops.

"Alright keep holding for three more minutes, if he doesn't show up by then, then we need to find a new plan."

They continued to hold for three more minutes. Cortez still didn't show up, and John was running low on ammo. John started to think of ways to adapt to the situation.

"Sir!" he yelled, "There's a clearing beneath us, we need to try and jump to it."

"Alright, lets," Garrus was interpreted by the roar of the shuttle's engines. It pulled right next to the evac zon. "Lets get In the shuttle! Do you have the sample?"

"Yes!" shouted John, and jumped into the open door of the shuttle. Garrus jumped in after him and quickly got in. The door closed and Garrus gave it a quick pound with the back of his fist.

John took a seat down and so did Garrus.

For a few minutes all was silent, then Garrus said, "Good job Cortez."

"Thanks, sir."

"As for you, John 117, this was an official evaluation. Your skills are impressive. I can not wait until I can see you in your armor at full capacity. You have proven yourself."

"Thank you sir."

"Call me Garrus, sir always felt a little too formal for me. When we get back, lets hit the bar, I think you'll be an excellent addition to the team."


	11. A Round of Drinks

**Wow, I can't believe this has gone to Ten chapters already. Its been such a blast writing this, and I hope more people will continue to read it and let me know what they think. I am also writing another fic called ME Revolutions that you guys should also check in and is partially why I don't update as often , along with the fact that finals are coming up. **

**Peace,**

**Gehenna79**

* * *

Chapter 10: A few drinks.

Once John returned to the Normandy, Garrus and he were taken to the War room for an official debriefing by Commander Shepard. The War room was full of analysts doing work on computers, and Commander Shepard was busy looking at the terminal interface and turned around to face John when he heard them coming from behind him. The Commander's eyes were surrounded by black rings; obviously the Commander wasn't getting enough sleep. John didn't have such problems being a Spartan; he was designed and trained to operate on little sleep. The last few days were interesting, having eight hours of sleep a night. But he wasn't complaining.

"So, Garrus," Shepard said, "How'd he do?"

"Excellent, sir," said Garrus, "He showed good combat ability, not to mention he saved me from a trooper trying to get the drop on me. He also was able to quickly adapt to the situation."

"Good, I'm starting to believe your story of being a super soldier. Not that I had any reason not to after Liara told me what she saw."

John said simply, "Yes, sir."

"You are dismissed, Chief."

John saluted and walked off. He went down to the AI Core to talk to Cortana. After getting a quick scan by one of the guards he went inside and turned on Cortana's console. She appeared this time not purple, but blue. She had her arms crossed and wore a surly look on her face. Obviously, she was displeased.

"Um…" began John.

"Having fun?" said Cortana with an attitude.

"In a way. Fighting enemies that are completely inept at doing their jobs isn't much of a challenge."

"Looking for more of a challenge are we? Wish I could tell you what's out there, but," she said dryly, "But, I am trapped in this network, with firewalls on all sides. So I can't really tell you much."

"When I get my armor back, you'll be able to be able to leave."

"And for what reason do you at all think they will give you back your armor? Just because you think you can prove some sort of deluded loyalty?"

"I don't know whether or not I'm loyal to them, Cortana, all I know is that I didn't have any options. I suppose I could have just started killing random people on the street take their money, but that would have not been the right thing. Besides, like I've said before, fighting is my best skill, they are giving me things to fight. It keeps me focused."

"Yeah, well, I know its not your fault Chief," she began, "But, I'm tired of this. Do you even know anything about what kind of enemy you are fighting."

John thought about it for a moment and said, "They are fighting some kind of advanced AI technology, is what James told me. James is a marine."

"Advanced AI?"

"Yeah, besides that I haven't had much time to learn. Don't really need a reason to either."

"As long as you get the job done.." started Cortana.

" It doesn't matter." Finished John.

Cortana and him talked for a little while longer about some of the things John had seen and then he decided to return to his room. After shutting Cortana off, he walked out the AI core, and ran into James. The marine said to John, "Hey Chief, heard your trial mission went well."

"Yeah."

"Congratulations, welcome to the Corps."

James held out his hand, and John firmly grasped it. "Mean grip you got there," remarked James, "Are you interested in getting a drink in the lounge? Drinks are tabbed on your pay check."

John thought about it for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll come along for a drink or two."

John followed James to the lounge, a small room on the port side of the ship. It consisted of a sweeping view of space, and one side was a bar, while one side was a poker table. At the poker table a couple of crew men were sitting around playing a game, and at the bar, Garrus was drinking a strange green drink. He turned around and said, "Operations Chief, Lieutenant."

"Come on Vakarian," James said humor fully, "Lose the formality."

"Well, Jimmy," said Garrus, "I don't technically outrank you, so I suppose I can let it slide, just this once. What will it be Chief, first round's on me."

John looked at the drinks, and since he didn't know any of them he asked, "What do you recommend James?"

"Two Asari Tumblers, bartender."

There was no bar tender so James quickly ran over and said, "Right away, Mr. Vega."

James poured a pink drink into John's glass. John lifted it up to his eyes and then said dryly, "It's pink."

"Yeah, and its good."

John had drank worse things than whatever was in the glass so he took a quick shot. It was a pleasant sensation, kind of a quick buzz, and had a sweet and slightly fruity flavor. John nodded appreciatively and said, "Thanks Garrus."

Garrus chuckled, "Any time Chief, glad you lost the sir, so the Commander tells me you are a special case, care to share your story?" Garrus took a casual lean on the bar table facing John. John thought about it for a second, and decided to say, "Sure, but you go first, sir."

"Oh I see, well, I suppose that's only fair, and my story cannot nearly be as interesting as yours."

James laughed, "Turian loves his stories."

Garrus began, "Well I am a Turian, from Palaven, and I used to be a cop on the Citadel."

"I know what the Citadel is, it's a big space station right?" asked John.

"Indeed, its where our government is stationed."

"Alright, continue," said John.

"I was fed up with all the bureaucratic crap on the Citadel. You see, its pretty hard to be a cop, because there's so much rules, and regulations, and I decided to leave and join our Commander, when he was on an investigation looking into the activities of Saren Arterius, a rogue Spectre."

"Spectre?" asked John.

"Shadow agents, big spooks." Said James.

The term made John immediately think of Veronica Dare, one of ONI's top field operatives.

"Yes," said Garrus, "They are considered above the law, allowed to do things there way, without anything in the way. Shepard is a Spectre as well as a Commander in the Human Systems Alliance. So anyways I joined up with Shepard, and we took Saren down. He had an army of Geth with him but we stopped him from trying to bring back the Reapers, who I'm sure you've heard something about."

"Yeah," replied John, "They are supposed to be giant living spaceships who have a problem with people."

"A little more than just a problem, I was with Shepard when we spoke to one, raiding one of Saren's bases. Their goal is to harvest all organic life, and possibly turn us into their slaves. But we defeated it. And one month later Shepard was killed in action by the Collectors, who were agents of the Reapers."

"Wait what?" said John, "The Commander Died?"

"Yes, but somehow Cerberus, the people we were fighting on our mission, brought him back. They are led by some rich 'humanitarian' (Garrus did some air quotes while saying that) and he funded the project that brought Shepard back to life."

"Wow, that's, sort of convenient." Said John.

"Indeed. Anyways, Shepard sought me out two years later and I joined him in his operation to shut down the Collectors."

"And then pow! Right in their cojones!" said James.

"Yes, as the Lieutenant said, we defeated them too. And for five months, Shepard was kept in prison for actions he did concerning a mass relay that he had to blow up to keep Reapers out of the galaxy.

"While that happened, I went back to my home world, and with some help formed a group of other soldiers helping my people get ready for the war. Now the Reapers are here, and our all worlds are burning. If we don't do something soon, if we can't rally everybody together against this one threat," Garrus started to get loud, "We will all die!"

Everybody was silent and then Garrus said, "And that's why I'm glad somebody like you John, who doesn't seem to know anything about this, is deciding just to help us for the hell of it."

"Well, it wasn't a hard choice. I suppose my story will clear up that."

"Oh yes, you owe us a story."

John said, "Alright give me another drink." After taking a quick swig of another pink alcohol drink he started, "So, a long time ago, when I was just a kid, I was considered an eligible candidate for the Spartan II program, a program which turned humans into super soldiers. They taught me how to kill, how to survive and how to use the armor that I was given. At first, our job was to stop the Innies, the rebels who wanted to overthrow the Earth colonial government, but then we made contact with an alien race known as the Covenant, well, more accurately it was a collection of races who all worshipped the same gods, and for some reason they hated humanity and called us 'heretics'. So I've spent the last twenty years fighting them."

James and Garrus were listening intently, and after John stopped James asked, "So how'd you end up here?"

"Well, after I left in a ship from a major battle on the fringes of the galaxy, I floated about in space for a few years, then we ran into a slipspace rupture that must have transported me to this universe. According to the AI in my suit."

"AI?" asked Garrus.

"Yeah, the AI in the core? She came with me."

James coughed, "I went in there and EDI was talking to it, told me it was a VI interface prototype."

"Darn." Said John, realizing they were keeping Cortana a secret.

"So what were you doing before you came on our ship?" Garrus asked.

"I landed on this planet Tuchanka."

"The Krogan homeworld?

"Yes."

"Okay, continue."

"They had me fight one of them, I defeated one and they gave me a ride to a freighter that was then attacked by the Cerberus people. I tried to save the crew but the Cerberus soldiers were merciless. Do you know why they attacked that frigate?"

"There was a Reaper artifact on that ship," said Garrus.

"Oh."

"Cerberus is using Reaper tech to augment their forces, its partially why we believe they have been indoctrinated."

"Indoctrinated?"

"Yeah," said James. "Its how they turn our own people against us, control their minds, make them go loco, turn into evil Dark Energy crackheads."

Garrus facepalmed.

"No," said Garrus, "The Reapers , even the dead ones, emit a field of energy that influences the thoughts and actions of those around it. That bends them to accept the Reapers logic and turns them into mindless thralls. Once completely indoctrinated there can be no saving them, only a bullet can do that."

John thought for a moment then said, "I faced an enemy similar to that. They were called the Flood. They consumed life and controlled their bodies. They would form to build large collective consciousnesses, and their goal was to conquer the galaxy. I think they were defeated. I think."

"Very interesting," was all Garrus said.

"Yeah," said John.

"Well, thanks for sharing your story, John."

James said, "Yeah good tale , your nickname is, I don't know what you shall be called yet, but I'll figure it out."

John looked at Garrus who just shook his head. John then said, "well, thanks for the drinks, I am going to go now." He shook Garrus and James hands and Garrus said, "Anytime."

John returned back to his room and found a data pad with a note on it.

_John,_

_I know that you are a little lost in our world. I thought you might want to learn more, so I commissioned you a lap top for extranet browsing. _

_Sincerely, _

_Liara._

True to the letter's word, there was a laptop on his desk. John grinned and decided he would look at it after a few hours of sleep.


	12. Companions and Offers

Chapter 11: Companions and Offers

When John woke up in the morning he used some of his new personal information to make an email account in the Alliance military's email service. Within an hour he already was getting spam from Morlan's shop and Hanar religious groups. He thought it would be a good idea to finally go visit Liara in her cabin across the way, not only because of a small amount of curiosity but just because he wanted to thank her properly for the computer.

Liara's room was on the same floor, so he knocked and the door opened. He looked around, and examining that was a small room with a set of giant screens on the right wall and several different computers and terminals, glowing with numbers and statistics, on the left wall. He said, "Dr. T'Soni?"

"GREETINGS!"

A little surprised, John turned around to see a glowing orb of light with a strange circular optic. John said, "Ah shit, it's a Monitor."

"I have no data on that term."

"You at least look like one, I already have a bad feeling about you."

"What is a 'monitor'?"

"Robots that look exactly like you and talk similar to you, and one of them tried to kill me a long time ago. You'll pardon me if I don't trust you right away."

"Hmmm..could you please elaborate on why it tried to kill you?"

"It's a long story, but it was over a disagreement."

"I am not capable of disagreeing, I am only programmed to assist Dr. T'soni's work."

"Oh," said John now relieved that another small bulbous AI would not be trying to kill him, "alright, where is she?"

"Right here." Said Liara as she walked in, "What can I do for you John?"

"I just wanted to thank you properly for the laptop. I've been using it today."

"That's good. People in my line of work, are good at acquiring equipment."

"What's your line of work?" inquired John.

"Take a seat, and I'll tell you a little about myself," Liara gestured to a small couch behind her office area. "Would you like some tea?" she asked.

"Sure." John answered.

The tea was a little bitter but also had a subtle hit of sweetness. It tasted good. John had actually never had tea before but had heard it was popular back on Earth in his universe. Obviously some things were the same in this universe.

John relaxed into the couch and Liara sat opposite him and began, "Well, the reason why I could get you a laptop so easy was pretty simple, I just got you a acquisition order, however, it would have been easy even if I wasn't on the Normandy for I am an information broker."

John's interest was caught, "And that is?"

"Someone who buys and sells information. I took over for someone who was threatening a friend, and now his resources are mine, and I use them to help in the war effort."

"Interesting. So are your activities legal?"

"Not entirely, no. But I'm sure you can understand at least from what you know, that the stakes are high. And I've never done anything that ever hurt anybody. Not anybody innocent."

John considered nothing, and merely nodded. "Okay."

Liara sat for a minute, awkwardly sipping her tea and then finally saying, "So, I saw a great many things in your dreams."

"And I'm guessing you want an explanation on them? Or at least to ask me some questions about them?"

"If that's not too much to ask," said Liara, "Tell me about yourself, in a matter of seconds I saw your entire life, your entire history flash before my eyes. And I want to comprehend it, for some things were… troubling, to view from your perspective."

John raised an eyebrow, "Such as?"

"As to how you became a soldier? I saw the training process, or at least what I thought it was. It looked brutal."

"I wouldn't be sharing this with you if I thought I would be returning home. But seeing as that is not the case, I suppose nobody is going to care if I give up some secret information. I mean, you are an…information broker, I'm sure you would just find it out anyways."

Liara grinned, "Definitely."

"When I was a child, I was taken by the military to become a Spartan. At the time we were being trained to fight against the Insurrectionists, those that wanted to destroy the union of the UNSC, um, it was like what you call here, the Human Systems Alliance. The training was brutal. Many days were spent doing harsh physical training, and there was no coddling, no mercy, from the scientists, from Sgt. Mendez my CO. In the end, it made me a weapon, and disciplined me into the soldier the galaxy needed me to be."

Liara nodded, taking interest in the story, "Why would your government allow children to be used as soldiers, more like lab rats, that sounds…extreme?"

John thought to himself _I don't need any pity from you,_, "I don't think anyone ever knew. And when we were needed, nobody ever found out, nor did it even matter. We became heroes eventually, because of the Covenant."

"The Covenant?"

"Those were the aliens, you saw them right?"

"I saw a great many life forms that did not appear human."

"Well most of them were probably Covenant, they were aliens, aliens that wanted to kill us because of their religion. In the end, they could be killed and that was all that mattered."

"So, religious aliens wanted to kill the human race?"

"Yep, never really found out why."

"Interesting. So tell me about the others."

"What others?"

"The Tentacle monsters."

"Oh. That was the Flood."

"The Flood?"

"Yes. They were a parasitic life form, they attached themselves to a host, and then used the host to fight for them. It was very…gruesome."

"I see."

Neither of them talked for a moment. John sipped a little bit more of tea, and finally, Liara got up, smoothing out the folds of her skirt,and said, "Alright, John, well it was nice talking to you, but I will have to get back to work now."

"Wait, sorry," said John, "But you were going to tell me you said, how you read my mind."

"Oh," said Liara sheepishly, "Well, that's just a power my kind, the Asari have, we can meld our consciousnesses with other beings. We are very attached to the metaphysical."

"Right. Sounds useful. Well thanks for the tea, I'll let you work."

"Of course." John left and watched as Liara went back to work on her monitoring her screens. _That was awkward _thought John.

* * *

For the rest of that day, John spent most of the day working out in the armory and then looking up more info on the extranet. He was given the duty of helping James tally up some of the ammunition supplies. It was long, tedious work, and after that he joined James again for more alcohol in the lounge. Some of the crewmen were talking about how there was going to be a conference of some races coming up on the Normandy. John heard that a Krogan clan chief was coming to join up, along with a Salarian Dalatrass. Apparently this was cause enough for everybody to start tightening up on security. Later that day, soldiers came in and went through some of John's stuff to his annoyance.

One side effect of the tightened security also meant that any packages to be sent to the Normandy's crew were to be checked. Packages came in by being sent to the Normandy's assigned docking bay on the Citadel. After stopping by for a few hours for resupply, a package was sent to the Normandy and then inspected by EDI's sensors. John had not been on the Citadel yet, as he had not been allowed permission to go on shore leave yet, a right that he had sent for over email.

The package was then put on alert, and then it was realized that it was to be sent to John.

While helping Cortez move some food supplies in from the shuttles, Communications Officer Traynor came down to see John. "John," she said, "We don't know how, due to only recently you being put in the system, but you have a package. And the package has set off some alarms."

"Really?" aksed John, incredulously, "Are you sure there aren't any other John Spartans around?"

"It was labeled to be sent to the Normandy. It doesn't get much more specific than that."

"Alright, I've never actually gotten a package before, lets see it."

John opened it up and found inside a small chip and a note that said, "Place inside omni-tool."

John did so, and then popped up a hologram. There was an middle aged man with cropped hair, a vest and holding a cigarette. The man had a strange set of markings within his pupils and he began to speak, "This is a recording." He said.

"Oh, well that's good to know," said John.

"Greetings, John, we know about you. You have killed quite a few of my troops and you've not been in our galaxy very long. Normally you would have made quite the enemy, but from what the information I've been able to gather from the Krogan and those left alive after the attack on Sanctum, well it seems as if you are not from around here. Some would say that your arrival in our galaxy is a little, convenient. And why would you even fight for Shepard might I ask? Do you even know what this war is about, or are you some sort of automaton who does whatever its master bids? I'm not sure about you, but lets assume you have an inkling on what's going on, and that you decided to join the Alliance by choice.

"You are fighting on the wrong side. From what I have learned you came from a ship, a ship that came mysteriously out of nowhere and crashed into Tuchanka. You then tried to get to the Citadel by a Salarian Freighter that we attacked. And now , after seeing footage of you from the strike on Sanctum, we know that you have some skills, and that you can be an asset. So back to what I was saying about you being on the wrong side.

"The Alliance wishes to try and destroy the Reapers. We believe we can find a way to control us. So I offer you this, you can join us, make yourself useful, and we will reward you greatly. That is all, if you are interested there is a contact willing to meet you on the Citadel, at a set of coordinates that will be uploaded to your omni-tool. You will have to be alone if you wish to meet with the contact. I hope that you will choose to at least give us a chance."

The man disappeared. Traynor was stunned and John asked her, "What's wrong?"

"If I remember correctly, then that is the Illusive Man."

"Really? Why's he called that?"

"Well, nobody can ever catch him. Also, he's mysterious."

"Huh, and he wants me to join _his _Terrorist organization."

"Apparently, but that would be desertion."

"Of course, I will report this to the Commander."

John took an elevator upstairs and knocked on the Commander's door and then stood at attention. The door opened up and Shepard appeared, in casual shorts and an Alliance Navy T-shirt. Shepard gestured him in and John got to take a look around the cabin. There was a four poster bed, and a fish tank on the wall. There also seemed to be a chrome plated shower unit. Shepard turned around and said, "Something you need to talk to me about , Operations Chief?"

"I wanted to report this sir." John handed him the chip and Shepard put it in his own omni-tool.

Shepard said, "Hmmmm, alright thanks for telling me about this. I didn't know the Illusive Man was bold enough to openly try and recruit my crew."

"How long have you been fighting with him, if I might ask?"

"The Illusive Man helped me in my fight against the Collectors a couple months ago. Human colonies were being attacked, and since Cerberus is a pro human terrorist organization, well they wanted me to investigate. All I cared about was helping stop the Collectors so I agreed reluctlantly. We are no longer useful to each other, so he figures he can try and kill me every chance he gets."

"I see. Don't worry Commander, I have no plans of desertion. Though I have to admit, I see the benefits of controlling the Reapers if what he says is true."

"It could very well be true, but its too dangerous, and is wasting time when they are at our door step killing everyone. There's a good chance he could be indoctrinated as well, and listening to an indoctrinated man's twisted perception on reality is not going to win us this war."

"Of course, sir."

"Dismissed, Chief."

John saluted and left, thinking, _It would be unwise to leave besides, Cerberus killed all those people on the freighter. They obviously are not ethical. No, _Illusive Man_, I don't think I'll be joining you anytime soon. _John decided he would go tell Cortana and then head in for some rest to put the message out of his mind.


	13. Science and War

Brothers In Steel Chapter 12: Science and War

The next day, John had to report to the war room for a briefing from Traynor. Apparently the meeting between the Krogan, Salarians and Turians was taking place that day. Per for everyone's safety, all crew were to continue their assigned duties but entrance or disruption of the assembly was prohibited. The assembly was going to take place in the meeting room adjacent to the war room. John merely nodded, those activities having nothing to do with him or any orders he may receive. He decided to continue in the cataloging of various different crates. But then he ran into someone that he met the first day in the new galaxy.

"Hey!" said Urdnot Wrex as he stumbled across John working in the armory, "How'd you get on the Normandy, John?"

Wrex lent out and a hand and gave John a sturdy tug that was trying to be a handshake. The Krogan's arm was rough and scaly, kind of like touching sandpaper. John said, "Well, it's a long story."

"You must really be a great soldier if Shepard has you working here."

John realized that Wrex must be the Krogan clan chief, "Wait, so you are the Krogan clan chief?"

"Indeed."

"Wow, well this is convenient."

"Sure is, well you can tell me about your arrival on this ship later, I assume that there is an elevator somewhere in this ship? The elevators were always so damn slow back when I was adventuring with Shepard."

"Yeah," John pointed at the elevators, "they are over there. What exactly are the Krogan preparing to bring to this summit?"

"I'm not quite so sure I can share that, I mean… you don't look like you are high Alliance personnel."

"Right, need to know basis, well we'll find out from Shepard later if its important, I guess. Good seeing you Wrex."

"Indeed, hopefully I will get to fight along side you, might be nice to see what you can do with a gun."

John thought about the strange circumstances that had brought him into this world, and it seemed as if he was destined to become part of grand events. Later that day, he saw the Salarian ship. The Salarian Dalatrass was noticeable, as he or she, (John couldn't tell the gender), was surrounded by guards and wore a regal blue cape with a hood.

John wondered what would come of such a meeting. He then used the extranet to look more into the history of both the races and what they could bring to the table. It appeared as if the Salarians were masters of science and espionage, and if it hadn't been obvious from his encounters on Tuchanka, the Krogan were a race of proud warriors, almost invincible in power. But they both hated each other. That was going to complicate things, but _hopefully_, thought John, _the Commander is also a diplomat._

Apparently something had happened because over the communications, he was called to suit up, along with Liara, as they were going down to the planet of Sur'kesh with the Commander. The Commander had mentioned that he wanted to see John in action, _so this is my chance,_ thought John.

He prepped up and then grabbed his shotgun and a pistol, along with several thermal clips. Then he met Liara who was apparently going to battle dressed in her work clothes. He asked, "Where are your shields?"

"I have a light shield operating system in place around me. It will block small bursts of mass accelerator arms fire, and allow ultimate mobility."

John nodded in response. The Commander got on, dressed in full silver battle armor, with the N7 logo on his chest. Compared to the Commanders that John had served under, he was much braver, as they had never personally taken place on missions, the risk was too great. Therefore it was strange to be personally going with his superior on the mission. It didn't give him any morale boost though, as through what he had been, he was ready to take on pretty much anything that this galaxy would throw at him. The shuttle lurched and they were off. Wrex was also accompanying them.

The Commander said to Wrex, "We're headed down to the Salarian homeworld now, they aren't used to seeing Krogan here so lets keep it simple. We land, get the females and leave before anyone else changes their mind."

John nodded, understanding the mission parameters. He fiddled around with his gun while Wrex replied, "I still don't trust a word they say."

John understood Wrex's suspicion from the perspective of researching the Krogan. Shepard replied with, "Let diplomacy play out Wrex, you'll get what you want."

"These females are the best and probably last hope for my people."

"We'll bring them back Wrex," said Liara as she walked in from the cockpit, "Don't worry."

"I appreciate that Liara, I wouldn't want anybody else along for the ride."

Everybody was silent for a few moments and then Wrex asked, "So how did he get on your ship Shepard?"

Wrex pointed in John's direction and Shepard answered with, "Who, Cortez?"

"I think he means me, Commander," said John.

"Yeah, this one is a good warrior, he wrestled and defeated one of my own."

"I had heard something about him landing on Tuchanka. We picked him up, floating about in space," answered Shepard

"Yeah, and then I figured there was no where else I could go, so I agreed to fight," said John.

"Brave, have you learned yet that the Normandy is drawn to …suicide missions?" said Wrex with a broad, toothy grin.

"I'm ready for whatever they can throw at me," John said.

"Good, because they can throw a whole lot."

John asked, "So what exactly have we come here to do?"

Shepard answered briefly, "There are some Krogan females here that are immune to the effects of the Genophage. We need them to synthesize a cure."

"Sounds delicate."

"Commander!" interjected Cortez, "Salarian Ground control is not giving us access to land."

"Tell them the Dalatrass authorized this herself."

John watched as Wrex got his shotgun primed and got up, John said, "You going somewhere?"

"I knew they would never keep their word, lets seem them try and stop a Krogan airdrop."

Wrex opened the window and jumped down on the ground with a humongous thud. After two Salarians failed to stop his assault, he then sent a wave of biotic energy at the nearest Salarian trooper who was scattered flying. Two red dots appeared on the Krogan's chest and he stopped moving. Shepard got out and waved John and Liara to follow. John followed Shepard's example.

Shepard said, "We'd like to avoid a diplomatic incident." There was a Salarian in black light armor talking to Shepard and his men surrounded Wrex. After a quick conversation, Shepard agreed to have Wrex put under guard. Wrex unhappily agreed to and responded by pushing one of his guards aside. John and Liara followed Shepard closely. The armored Salarian left them to their own devices and John stood around aimlessly.

The area where they were was set on a type of plaza. There was ceramic paneling on the architecture, and there was one elevator to the far end of the room and one to the side, where a strange creature was being brought up for study. Liara said, "I hoped I would never have to see one of those again."

The creature was about eight feet tall, and had a triangular mouth and what looked like eight black eyes. It stumbled a bit, being overweight. John said, "Ugly mother right there."

John walked around and saw a Salarian typing up on a Keyboard. Right next to him was a big red button on a keypad. Curious he went up to it, and then as he put his hand over it the Salarian a few feet away said, "Don't touch that."

John decided that it would be best not to touch whatever that thing was and kept moving on. A Salarian was blocking an exit off to the side, when John got too close the Salarian said, "This is a restricted area, please step away."

It appeared as if everywhere was blocked off to him, so he went and met up with Liara and Shepard at the check in station. The armored Salarian was there, along with a few others who appeared to be on break or something. Shepard said mockingly, "Enjoying the sights, Chief?"

"Sir, yes Sir!"

Liara laughed and Shepard let his eye get scanned by a device. They were then cleared to go downstairs. Then, out of nowhere and grabbing John's attention, sirens started to sound throughout the base. John heard a voice go off and say, "Threat condition two has been detected, Scramble readiness teams."Gun ships at the landing pad took off, and then Shepard asked the black armored Salarian, whether or not there was trouble brewing. John could sense something big was going and hurried into the elevator.

The elevator took them down three levels and opened up into a large room , that appeared to be one enormous lab structure. Cages were everywhere and Salarians scurried about, doing their work. A group of Salarians were standing by the elevator and one of them, an old looking, worn down Salarian with battered horns, and wearing a lab coat that was red, white and black said, "Ah, Shepard excellent timing, good to have you here."

"Mordin?" said the Commander, with an air of surprise.

"Eyesight still sharp, surprise understandable. Hadn't expected to return to work." The Salarian spoke strangely, and very quickly.

Liara said, "Yes, my sources said the doctor had returned to work."

"Yes, special consultant, had to be me, someone else might have gotten it wrong."

Then after looking behind him, the Salarian moved up to Shepard and whispered something. Liara looked at him suspiciously. John put it out of his mind and followed them along as they moved through the base. The warning siren was still on though, which was the most pressing matter to John. I want to know what the danger is, thought John.

As they passed by a room full of enormous dead bodies covered in tarp, Mordin said, "Females had weakened immune systems, side effect of Maelon's 'cure'. These," Mordin said, gesturing to the bodies, "Didn't survive."

"Maelon was the Salarian who made the cure?" asked Liara.

"Yes, was former student. Was unethical. Stopped him with help of Commander Shepard."

"But we saved the Data!" said Shepard.

"Indeed. Data saved, but not complete, and lacks crucial details to reconstruct cure. But still useful for synthesizing living tissue."

"So there's no females alive anymore?" asked John.

"No, one left, only survivor."

"Well, that's going to make things more difficult."

"Indeed. Arrive too late, cannot delay now."

Mordin led them on down the hallway, and presented them in front of a cage that was filled with smoke. John could make out the silhouette of a Krogan, in there and could see that was attached to some sort of restraining device. He wondered what kind of experiments were going on. In a way, it was similar to Spartan training, but even more desperate in appearance. John started to feel a bad taste in his mouth; this place was starting to seem more and more shady.

"Be careful, Krogan slow to trust."

The Commander walked up to the glass and said, "I'm Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy."

In a low , malevolent voice full of distrust, the Krogan said, "Are you here to kill me?"

"Goddess, what's she been through," said Liara. John looked behind him to see her using her omni-tool to scan the Krogan.

"Urdnot Wrex and I are here to take you to safety," assured Commander Shepard. John could tell that the Commander was genuinely trying to be sympathetic to the Krogan. This was a strange trait in a leader that he had not seen, with the exception of Sergeant Johnson.

"Why," asked the Krogan, "What am I to you?"

"You are the future of the Krogan race, I'm fighting for that."

As if on cue, the sirens escalated in pulled out his weapon and the female Krogan said, "Well I hope you brought an army."

The Salarians started to move around running and scrambling. A voice on the intercom said, "Enemy fighters have intercepted the base." The Salarians gave out orders to move all sensitive data to an off-site location. An attendant ran up to the Krogan's console and started typing keys. Shepard asked the Salarian, "What's the situation?"

"We have multiple ships inbound."

John said, "What kind of ships? Reaper forces?"

Shepard's omni-tool started to blink and out popped Wrex on a hologram monitor. The Salarian answered, "I don't know."

Wrex said, "Shepard, its Wrex. Cerberus troops are in the base. Get the females out of there now!"

"Only one survived Wrex, it might be safer down here."

Wrex said angrily, "What? I don't think so, I'm not going to let her die like the others, no deal. If you still want this alliance get her out of there."

John said, "That doesn't even make any sense…"

"No time," said Shepard, "Release the female!"

"Can't," objected the Salarian, "Protocol states that during lockdown, no specimen,"

The Salarian was hit with a field of electricity that shocked him. John looked to see that Mordin had used his omni-tool to do such. "Objection noted," said Mordin, "Now please release Krogan."

"Nice." Said John.

Mordin got got inside a side-cage. "Need to monitor pod as it clears quarantine procedures. Meet us at next checkpoint Shepard. Likely Ceberus opposes Genophage cure."

The cage started to move up slowly, the sound of gears rumbled. Shepard said to the female Krogan, "You'll see Tuchanka again, I promise."

The cage disappeared, moving up into the ceiling. "Alright," said Shepard, "John take point , we move back up through the elevator now."

"Yes, sir."

John led the way back to the elevator. When he got there the Salarian technician was having a difficult time, banging against a console. "Don't know why it won't work, give me a minute," said the technician.

John waited, and then the door lit green. John walked up to it and as the door opened he saw a strange device with a red blinking light in the center of the elevator. Shepard yelled, "Get back! It's a bomb!"

John quickly reacted and spun around on his heels, but the bomb detonated. The force of the explosion sent him flying into the air. Chips of wall fell all around and the Salarian technician was killed, green blood getting everywhere. The attack had begun.


	14. Had Enough?

**Dear Readers,**

**As of late I have been away and just got back two days ago. I started working on this before I left and therefore could not update. Hopefully, not that I'm on summer vacation I'll be able to do updates at least every three days. :p Anyways, I'm back to writing, so please enjoy this.**

**Peace,**

**Gehenna79**

* * *

Chapter 13: Had Enough?

John was stunned for a second but quickly got back to his feet. His helmet was dazed for a few seconds, the HUD flittering a little bit, but then set itself back to normal. A Salarian technician asked, "Commander Shepard, are you alright?" The Commander responded bluntly with, "Is there another exit?"

"Yes, there's one at the far side of the room."

"Then that's where we go, lets move!"

Liara was up, looking unharmed for the most part. John ran along side the commander and asked, "Orders sir?"

"Follow me and stop Cerberus from getting the Krogan."

"Got it."

They took a ladder up to the next level. If there had been no fighting going on, John would have taken a moment to look at the beautiful sunset and the glorious mountains, but the rest of the facility was in flames. Heavy fighting had been taking place, and John saw a group of Salarians firing at Cerberus troops across the river, on the other side of the complex. Out of nowhere, a Cerberus shuttle dropped in, firing rounds at the Salarians and scattering them down into the river below.

John did a barrel roll to get behind cover, and pulled out his pistol. The Commander got around the right flank and Liara fired a ball of blue energy that stuck to one of the troopers and then started lifting the rest up into the air. John took the initiative, firing several shots at the soldiers, and downing two of them. Commander Shepard then pulled out an assault rifle and starting firing away at the remaining Cerberus troops.

"That can't be the last of them," said Liara.

"What was that thing you just did?" asked John.

"Singularity, I'll tell you more about that later."

"I got to get me one of those."

More Cerberus troops ambushed them as they moved on ahead. A Round hit the side of John's head and he muttered to himself, "Getting careless, got to remember how Mendez punished the careless." He pictured being forced sit out in the cold with no shirt on, and got to cover. He took out a few more of the troopers and watched as one of the shielded Centurions came up with a new squadron. Shepard took care of them easily, firing rounds from his flanking position. John switched to his shotgun and ambushed the last Centurion, and shot him in the face, sending pieces of gore flying.

The party came up to a door and opened to see an explosion rip through the wall and one of the large ugly beasts come out and smack away a Cerberus trooper. There was a jet of fire, but the beast seemed unaware, and after a victory roar, ran out the other way. John could see Shepard grinning as he said, "Look out, there goes the next Shadow Broker."

Liara looked askance and said, "Not funny."

John didn't get it.

To get around the flames, they had to jump across a crack in the path and jump over the broken window. After that, they continued to go up the stairs, when on their radios they heard Mordin yell, "Shepard, Cerberus troops at checkpoint. Attempting to kill Krogan, Need Assistance."

"I got this," said John, running to the side and firing a shotgun blast that killed a trooper. He ran up to where the Krogan was, and shot the trooper trying to blast his way in. Shepard and Liara finished up the rest.

John asked, "Are you okay?"

"Containment shield is holding, will repair is necessary. Can't speak for Krogan's health."

"I am fine, soldier." Said the Female Krogan.

"Everything's fine, Commander."

"Good job John, for taking the initiative, but its not over yet."

"Yes, sir."

The elevator moved up, but just as it was about to clear through the ceiling, a Cerberus shuttle swooped in, and several troopers began firing at the elevator and at the team. John got into cover quickly, as broken shards of glass from the elevator fell down onto the ground. "Hurry! Next Checkpoint!" Yelled Mordin.

Shepard yelled, "Lets Move!" and took out one of the Soldiers, sending him down into the valley below.

A hole in the wall had been made by some Cerberus attack and the team pushed on through it. In front of them was another stretch of lab areas, where Cerberus forces were waiting for them. Just as John got his footing a gust of wind blew on him as two shuttles flew right by. One of them was the shuttle they had taken , and it was being chased by a white and yellow Cerberus shuttle.

Over the radio, Wrex yelled, "Shepard get cracking! I'll try to draw some of their fire."

The shuttle disappeared around the bend. John quickly got into cover again to try and take out the next set of troopers ahead of them. The corridor was linear; there were gardens full of ferns and conifers everywhere, and the Cerberus troops were using them to hide themselves. Shepard signaled for John to move around the left flank again. John did so, quickly sprinting behind some more troopers, two Soldiers and a Centurion, and John shot one down on the ground and wounded another. Doing a quick barrel roll, he watched as a glob of blue energy hit the Centurion and made him stagger. John shot again after a quick pump of his shotgun and the Centurion was dead.

"Cerberus isn't fooling around," said Liara.

"They are capable of anything," said Shepard.

"I'm kind of out of the loop," said John as he jumped over a support beam that had fallen, "but it doesn't seem very constructive to be fighting us while there's a war for survival going on here."

Shepard laughed slightly, "You're telling me!"

They got up to the next level and once again, Cerberus troops were waiting for them. This time however, there was a different kind of trooper, one that wore mesh armor and a helmet that kind of reminded John of the Security Helmet variant for MJOLNIR Armor. The troopers took a round object and laid it flat on the ground. It started to rise and out popped a rifle barrel. The machine then started shooting rounds at John, and he quickly dodged them before they could bring his shields down.

Liara yelled out, "I don't think going head to head would be a good idea."

"Alright," said John, "Time for more flanking."

John readied his shotgun. The Turret had pinned down Shepard but thankfully Liara used a Singularity on the troopers. The trooper who had laid down the Turret was still up. It looked like he had more turrets on his back, so John thought _Got to take him out, or else he'll set up another turret._

John pulled out a frag grenade, which was a small fist sized purple cylinder and flung it at the Trooper who had deployed the turret. The grenade exploded, breaking the trooper's shields. Quickly, John put his shotgun on the ground, and unholstered his pistol, just in time to get a perfect headshot. The Cerberus trooper fell to the ground, a pool of blood forming around him. The other troopers were easily taking care of by Liara and Shepard.

John noticed across the way, to be a bunch of cages with strange four legged animals that slightly resembled dogs but with snake like heads. They also had scales that were a radiant green. John pointed them out to Liara and asked, "What are those?"

"Varren. They are hostile predators, similar to Earth's wolves. They are somewhat related to reptiles though."

Through the next door, John watched as a Trooper was mauled and torn apart by one, viciously. Shepard fired a shot at the Varren, killing it. John remarked, "I'll keep that in mind, next time I see one of those."

The next room had a stairway, and Shepard said, "I'm going up top."

John watched as Shepard moved up and engaged the enemies up top. There were a few Cerberus troops below, but they were unshielded and were quickly picked up by Liara's Singularity. The pulsating blue orb swung them around, giving John time to shoot them down with his shotgun without any danger. Above them, Shepard fired from a hole in the ceiling, created by some sort of unknown explosion. The air smelled slightly of burnt ozone. John and Liara climbed up the ladder at the end of the hallway and met up with Shepard, who was waiting at the next door.

"Elevator malfunctioning Shepard!" yelled Mordin over the radio, "Need assistance!"

"Get them away from the female!" yelled Shepard.

Like before, John ran ahead to meet the enemies head on. After a quick, firefight it was over. Mordin instructed Shepard to find the power supply and turn it back on. While Shepard did that, John walked over to another set of Varren cages. On a computer there was a audio file read to play and Liara turned it on. A Salarian voice on the computer said, "Species 408- the varren- could provide a novel form of biological warfare. With enhanced size and intelligence, they could harass hostile civilian populations at minimal cost. Recommend project approval."

"These Salarians seem very shady," remarked John.

"They are scientists," explained Liara, "and politicians. They have always been good at adding more problems. They gave the Krogan technology to fight the Rachni, and then they held them back when they couldn't control them. The average Salarian is fine, but their leadership…well, they are troublesome."

Shepard returned back and told them that the power was on. Unfortunately another group of Cerberus troopers had also arrived. "Protect the female at all costs!" yelled Shepard.

They took care of them quickly, and Shepard cleared them through the Checkpoint.

The female Krogan coughed and said exasperatedly, "I'm not your problem, Commander, you don't know me."

"But I'd like to, hang in there. How many more checkpoints?"

"Just one more. I hope Urdnot Wrex is still waiting."

"Wrex can't keep his hands off a fertile female. He'll be there," said Eve without enthusiasm.

John had a brief mental image of two Krogan mating but then shook his head and blocked it out. It was a scary image.

And just as the elevator disappeared through the ceiling for the last time, yet another squad of Cerberus troopers appeared. John ran up to cover and Liara used her singularity. Out of nowhere a missile hit a structural support and send pieces of shrapnel flying, peppering Liara who fell to the ground. John ran to her and saw that she had a large incision across her leg, where blue blood was seeping out. "Don't worry, I got medi-gel," he said calmly.

He ran the omni-tool over her cut and the medi-gel zipped it back up. She said, "Thanks, I'm good to go, lets keep moving."

"Alright."

"Lets get the hell out of here!" said Shepard.

At the end of the hallway, there was a ladder over looking the scenic vista. They climbed it up quickly and then encountered a group of Cerberus troopers. This one was much larger than any previous, and John counted that they consisted of two squads. A shot hit his shoulder and his shields flared up. Quickly he slid into a prone position and took out his pistol. He equipped a scope, then popped out of cover to try and get a headshot. With a steady hand, he quickly got a headshot on a trooper, sending bits of meat flying everywhere. Then John did a quick maneuver to the next piece of available cover. But then something unexpected happened.

Out of nowhere, a huge hulking mass came down and crashed in the middle of the battlefield. It was a huge armored body, a bipedal machine of war. Inside was one Cerberus trooper. John said, "what the hell is that!"

"Atlas Mech! Get to cover!" yelled Shepard.

"Door is damaged! Can't get out!" said Mordin as he comically tried to push against the door.

The Mech fired a missile in John's direction sending him flying into the air and landing on his back. With a few second's hesitation, he got right back up, and watched as the Mech fired a storm of rounds at the various pieces of cover, small gardens and supports. They were torn apart, causing Shepard to retreat to the upper gantry. John threw a grenade at the Mech, causing its shields to flare but no permanent damage was done.

"How do we take this down?" Liara asked.

"I have an idea," said John.

"Let's hear it Operations Chief," said Shepard bluntly.

"Bring its shields down and I'll show you."

John ran out while Shepard yelled, "What are you doing?"

John started a sprint, and pulled out his shotgun as he ran to the other side of the door. Liara continued to fire her weapon, slowly bringing down the shields of the Atlas Mech. John then started running straight at the Mech and then, quickly using his super human abilities, did a running jump right at the Atlas Mech. As he jumped right onto the hood he let out a shot with his shotgun that pierced the glass of the Mech, sending pieces of glass flying everywhere with a tremendously loud _Crash!._ As this happened, he quickly grasped the top of the mech. He then grabbed the Cerberus trooper and flung him to the ground, as the trooper screamed.

John got down and silenced the trooper with his shotgun.

After dealing with a wave of troopers, Shepard said, "_What the hell was that_ Operations Chief?"

"Sir, I thought it would be worth the risk to try and pierce the glass and disable the pilot before it could possibly do more damage to our remaining cover."

"We'll talk about it later, but that was risky, you could have gotten killed if the Cerberus trooper had gotten wind of what you were doing."

Liara did a nod of approval towards John though, which meant she approved of his actions, giving John some satisfaction.

Wrex said over the radio, "I think that's it. Looks clear from here, I'm coming in now."

The shuttle slowly came in and parked on the landing pad. Wrex stepped out, shotgun in hand and shook hands with Shepard. "Had me worried there for a minute." He said.

Mordin led Wrex over to the females box and gestured with an outspread hand. Wrex pushed him aside and offered the female his hand and said, "Let's get you out of here."

In person, with no glass blocking the way, the Krogan female looked even more regal. John could tell her importance by just the way she moved. But then , when two Cerberus troopers appeared and looked as if they were about to shoot, the Krogan Female took Wrex's shotgun and shot them both down. She then gruffly handed it to Wrex and said with a tone of weariness, "I can handle myself,Wrex."

"Women," said Wrex.

As they left, John noticed one of the Cerberus troopers struggling to get up, the trooper's face smeared with his own blood. John walked over to him and said, "What do you want with the Krogan?"

The Trooper tried to speak, but instead coughed on his own blood and laid down to die.

John shrugged and walked back to the shuttle, wondering what exactly was going on with the war he had just entered.


	15. Impressions

Chapter 14: Impressions

The mission was a success, yet Shepard had not treated it as such. The fact that Cerberus had been able to find out when the Female Krogan was moved had troubled the Commander, and Mordin had postulated that it was an inside job, that someone within STG was indoctrinated by the Reapers and compelled to help Cerberus. However, they would never find out who actually did it. Shepard asked John up to the Commander's Cabin the next day. John guessed that it was to discuss the actions that John did concerning the Atlas Mech.

The elevator took John up and the doors of the Cabin opened up revealing a spacious room. There was a fish tank on the left side of the wall, where brightly colored fish swam around complacently without any fear or worry. To the right there was some furniture, a small couch and a bed with _pillows._

John hadn't used a pillow since he was a kid.

However, John focused and saluted the Commander who then gestured him to come inside and take a seat on the couch. John took a seat and stiffly stood at attention while the Commander stood and said, "You know why you are here?"

"I think so, Sir."

"Okay then, you can tell me."

"Its regarding the actions I performed when I engaged the Mech on yesterday's mission, sir."

"Right, now I'm not mad. I'm not even annoyed. I'm glad you did that, but you need to be aware that there's a much bigger war going on. And we are going to need you for that war. You haven't seen the Reapers yet. You haven't seen the grotesque infantry they employ. Cerberus isn't the real threat. So I need you to keep in mind that foolhardy actions are not tolerated. We all need to play it safe so we can continue the real fight."

"Yes,sir."

John doubted that the Reapers would affect him; dealing with the Flood was something that would make lesser men quiver in fear. All the Flood had done to him was make him break a sweat. But he wasn't going to back sass the Commander, and he could tell that the Commander was someone who had lost people to this new, dangerous enemy.

Then the Commander said, "Anyways, there is another reason I have called you up here."

"Sir?" asked Chief with a raised eyebrow.

"Your armor has returned, from what the science notes tell me, much of the technology tells me that it would not work for a regular human. But they think they can adapt the shield processes of your armor to work for our own, and thus, you have provided us with stronger shields for our troops. They also say that they were able to reactivate your shields as well. Now my question is this, do you want to take your armor back?"

"Sir, yes Sir!" said John loudly with enthusiasm.

"I thought so. Also, at some of the Technician's urging, they decided to add some upgrades to your armor."

"Upgrades? I thought that my armor was more advanced, sir."

"Yes, but as you will see, they thought that it would be prudent to incorporate some of our own technology. For example, there was a source of healing foam within your suit correct?"

"Yes,sir."

"Well, now its been fixed to use military grade medi-gel."

John nodded. It was logical to switch to whatever was in supply in this galaxy.

"I'll go check it out." Said John.

"Good, dismissed, Chief."

* * *

John headed down to the loading bay as fast as possible. Rogers, Cortez and James Vegas were standing around the strange shipment. There was a shipment security guard standing by with a clipboard. She was short, had a bunch of freckles and slightly auburn hair and she spoke in a clipped tone, "Okay, I need a John Spartan to sign this shit."

"I'm right here."

"About time, I've been waiting all day."

John signed quickly and then was given the codes in which to open the crate. With a few key pad presses, the top of the box became unlatched and the top slowly unhinged itself up. Chief took a look inside, where his armor was laying, inside a sort of polymer cushioning. What John saw inside was to even him stunning.

His signature armor was polished and shiny; all of armor no longer had any buffs or scratches or dings on it. His visor was the same as it always had. Thankfully, the scientists had thought it prudent to tamper with any part of his helmet. The neural interface was still intact. The body looked good as well, and as Chief deconstructed the layers, he saw that the gel layer had been revitalized. John wondered if they took the gel out, reduplicated it and put it back together again.

The armor also had a change in color though, now it was no longer a shade of Olive, it was now a shade of dark Navy Blue, the same color as the armor that had been given to him. On the left side of the chestplate was a Logo that he had soon before on the commander: N7.

It took a little while and the help of the other crew men but he got it back on. The suit fit like a glove, comfortably giving John a better sense of security. The systems took about ten minutes to reboot, and his interface was the same as it had been before. His view was perfect, the polarized visor changing to suit to the amount of the light as he took a stead walk into the back of the hangar bay. The suit responded to his mental commands as always. But then he realized that there was a symbol on the bottom of the left of the screen that said, "OMNI-BLADE POWER METER", and he realized that an omni-tool and thus, an omni-tool had been installed as a new feature for his suit. He tinkered with his arm, and then realized that it was probably a function that he could activate with his mind. He thought about it and out popped a shiny, yellow blade. Thankfully, Cortez was standing behind him and did not get poked.

"This, is going to do some damage," said John with a grin.

* * *

The next few days were pretty slow. Shepard, along with Garrus and Liara, went down to the planet of Tuchanka again for another op that John was not privy too. The day after that, they did it again and after a little debacle on whether or not the crew was allowed to know, Traynor told John that the op had been focused on the planting of a Turian bomb down on the planet of Tuchanka. There had been secrecy because they didn't want Wrex to find out about it.

John spent most of his time either talking to Cortana, doing manual labor down in the armory and shuttle bay, or having a drink with some of the other crew members down in the lounge. Although he knew that he was slowly becoming less and less Spartan every day, he slowly began to enjoy this kind of life. _As long as I keep fit,_ thought John, _there's no way I could lose my edge._

After a week, John was itching to get into a fight, though and there was rumors that they might run an operation on some planet in the Rachni Relay.

John had learned from Liara that the Rachni were a race of hive mind insects that had been turned violent by the Reapers in order to weaken the Citadel races. Liara could only guess this was sometime after the Reapers realized that they could no longer use the Citadel to get into the galaxy. The Rachni were almost able to win, when the Salarians found the Krogan, gave them weapons and forced them to fight against the Rachni.

The Rachni were defeated and were forced into extinction. But about three years ago when Shepard was fighting the Geth and Saren he came across the last Queen, who could possibly allow the Rachni to come back into existence. Shepard was given the option of completely killing the Rachni forever, but instead Shepard believed that they should be given another chance, allowing them to flee and go to an uninhabited world and live peacefully. But now, according to Liara, the Krogan had heard rumors the Rachni were becoming aggressive. Shepard was going to take a team with him to check it out. John decided to request that he come along.

John saw Shepard coming down to the crew deck and approached him.

"Commander, I have a question if you don't mind."

"Alright, speak freely."

"I am requesting that I come along on the next ground mission, sir."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, I take it you've heard about the problem?" Shepard began walking towards the engine gun's, also known as "Garrus's Workshop".

"Yes, sir, there are Rachni rumors."

"Okay, then you can come along. But we are making a stop at the Citadel tomorrow. I take it you know what that is?"

"A little bit sir, it's a space station."

Shepard laughed a little, "Its much more than that. I think you would benefit from a little shore leave."

Shore leave was something that John had never had time for. Usually he would get sent from one mission to the next, or back to Reach for a little down time before the next one.

"Alright sir, looking forward to it."

* * *

The Citadel was one of the most amazing things that John had ever seen, and he had seen a lot of amazing things. It reminded him in some ways, the Ark, but unlike the Ark which was a desolate world with no people, the Citadel was a living, breathing city. The lights, the business and the inter connectedness of all the different races was something that he had never seen before. The fact that humans, and aliens of all different kinds had been able to make a society without trying to kill each other was the most stunning thing about it all. Taking an elevator down to the Presidium Commons, he looked out at the artificial lake and the palm trees and conifers and walked among the people, going on about their business, selling goods and services, and taking part in a collective society.

The Citadel itself was the color of sterile white; it was in one word Clean. Of course John had been in clean environments, but not ones where civilization was kept and maintained. It was in a way overwhelming. John didn't show it, but inside he didn't know what to make of everything. Shepard asked him when they ran into each other outside a small café, "What do you think of it?"

"Sir, its pretty damn amazing sir."

John decided to use some of his pay, (_Actual money!)_ and buy a sandwich from the café. He sat down on a table and watched as the various aliens, like the Asari and Salarians walk around, and John also listened on the conversations they had about movies, plays, and the war.

If that was the one thing that was odd to John, it was the fact that the war seemed to not touch anybody's conversations. John wondered if what that was what life on Earth was before the Covenant abruptly invaded the planet.

After lunch he continued to look around, and then got a message on his omni-tool. James was calling him.

James informed him of a bar that was on a higher level, called Purgatory and wanted him to come up.

John said, "But don't we drink enough at the lounge already?"

James said, "What? You can never drink enough. Get up here _Silencio_!"

John took the elevator up to the bar. The bar was divided by levels, with one level on the bottom, a small middle level for private booths and a third level that had a lively dance floor, where members from all species were enjoying themselves. James waved John over from the bar on the lower level. John moved his way through the crowd of aliens and humans. A boisterous party of marines was over in a booth dancing on the tables, and a Salarian bartender was having a lively conversation with a couple of human females.

James said, "I'm glad you could make it."

"What's up with the _Silencio_?"

"Your new nickname. Thought it might fit you since you are pretty silent."

"Hmmm."

John ordered a drink and took it all once in a good shot. He stayed at the bar and watched the people and the movement. But soon he got bored. John said goodbye to James and said he was heading back to the ship. The day was over, and John had seen enough of the Citadel. On the way back into the ship he came across the pilot and the AI talking to each other.

"Jeff," said the AI, "Do you think that it is acceptable for me to defy an order based on moral grounds?"

"Um," the Pilot stuttered, "What did you do?"

"Jeff, I am asking a serious question,"

"Yeah, and I know you want a serious answer."

"So what do you think?"

"I think that you should consider giving me a kiss and maybe we'll talk."

"Maybe does not imply you will…"

The AI paused and they both turned to see John just standing there.

John cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Well I was just going."


	16. Bug Hunt the First

**Hey everybody, **

**Wow, its been a while since I've uploaded. I didn't mean to but I've been enjoying a summer of laziness, along with the fact that I've been playing Bioshock and Fallout New Vegas a lot. Don't know if I want to write any fan fic for either though. Both seem really complex and Fallout New Vegas is the only Fallout Game I've played, strangely enough. Anyways, I want to get back into regular updates, so here's Chapter 15.**

**Enjoy!**

**~Gehenna**

**Chapter 15: Bug Hunt the First**

One of the best things about his armor being returned was now Cortana could return into his armor and become one with him again. But first, he needed to get permission, as the AI core was often strictly under guard, and was also was where the ship's own AI, EDI, had her data cores established. The room itself was usually only accessed by Engineers and Shepard, as well as EDI's detached body.

EDI's body spent most of the time on the Bridge, and although a crew member could contact EDI from anywhere on the ship, John felt like it might be appropriate to come and ask her in person. It would show her the seriousness of being reunited with Cortana.

John walked up to the bridge. At that time, the ship was floating around the Mulla Xul system. Standing still in space allowed anyone looking outside a window a view of the beauty of the stars, and that day the specks of blue, white and red, shone radiantly on from the Bridge's window. John was unsure as if he should salute EDI or not so he just said, "Ma'am."

The pilot, a thin, wiry fellow with a five o clock shadow, whom John had heard was called "Joker" by the crew turned and said, "Hey, EDI, looks like this one wants to talk to you."

EDI turned around and said, "Yes, Operations Chief, do you have a query?"

EDI was the image of an attractive human woman, though having no skin to speak of sort of dampened the effect it was supposed to have. Instead she was bare metal, the color of silver. John thought it was odd that EDI had hair, or at least an illusion of it, and he wondered what sort of function that would have. In his universe, AI's were restricted to be computer programs on ships or in UNSC space stations. They would use whatever programming they had at their disposal, depending on how smart they were, to create an image in which they could represent themselves in, an Avatar being the term. No AI had ever decided to take on a real physical form that John knew of.

"I would like to request that my AI be returned to my armor."

"That can be arranged. But first I must ask to why it is necessary?"

"My reactions will be faster and more efficient with the addition of the AI."

"I see. I have talked with her. I thought it would be…rude, to probe her data cores without her consent. She agreed to share with me some of her knowledge, but I am.."EDI got out her chair and stopped her sentence for a few seconds before saying, "unsure of how I can gauge the closeness of your relationship."

"Its close."

"I see. I only wish to know that having the AI will not hamper any efficiency on your part. To be frank, I wish to know whether or not you are attached to your AI."

John didn't know how to answer so he said, "We've been through a lot, yes."

"So, the answer to the question is yes?"

"Not enough though that it will affect my performance ma'am."

"Very well, you may have access. Also, you don't need to call me ma'am, EDI will suffice."

John gave a curt nod and said, "Ok, thanks, EDI."

"It is my pleasure to assist."

Later that day, before leaving on the mission to Utukku, John went down to the AI core to retrieve Cortana. He decided it would be best to let her known what was going on before he retrieved her. He brought her up on screen. Changes had happened to her; she looked different, her hair had become longer, her face had become more human, and less visible strands of data were seen. She also was taking on less of a pink but more of a violet color. John started to become concerned, as she was now starting to become more human in appearance, a sign of Rampancy. If she started to lose her grip on logic and rationality, she might have to be put down.

But then, he remembered the story James told him that EDI had taken over the body of an infiltration mech made by Cerberus. EDI had started out as a ship board AI, and had "possessed" the body of the infiltration mech. John wondered if maybe the same could be done for Cortana. He didn't know if that would keep her from going rampant, but maybe if she could adapt into a normal life, maybe she could be saved. He resolved to tell EDI about it later.

She said in a gentle, soft voice, "Hello, John."

"I've come to get you out of there."

"I see you have gotten your armor back."

"Yes, and you can come back in."

"Alright, I've been dying to leave this cell."

John put the neural interface into Cortana's containment cube and after a few seconds, the neural interface made a ding noise that told him that she had successfully been transferred. He put her back into his helmet, and then he felt a slight tingle as the familiar entity was becoming one with his consciousness. Then he heard a sigh and Cortana said, "It feels so good to be back."

"Alright, think you are ready for combat?"

"I'm always ready to combat, but they've made some changes to your suit. Hopefully they are upgrades and not hindrances. I seem to be able to access every part of your suit still."

"They added an omni-tool to my suit, with an omni-blade. It's a thing, not sure really how it works but it interacts with technology, and I have a military model that can hack doors, terminals, and stuff like that."

"Less work for me, I remember when we were on High Charity that one time, I had to open all the doors for you."

"That must have been fun for you."

"The wealth of Covenant Data was extraordinary, but lets get back to the task at hand. Who are we fighting?"

"Don't know yet, we are going with the Commander to go check out a Krogan Scout camp. Some Scouts went missing so they sent out a company of soldiers to go check it out. Apparently some aliens used to live in the area a long time ago, and they weren't too friendly. They are concerned whether or not these aliens, the 'Rachni' as one of the crew told me, could be back and become a threat."

"Already gotten into trouble I see," said Cortana mirthfully "Lets go get ready then."

John went down to the hold, fully armored, and decided to take with him an Avenger Assault Rifle, a Predator Pistol and his trusty shotgun. One of the things that he found very useful and fascinating was that the weapons in this galaxy folded up on one's back. Back when he fought the Covenant, due to the size of the weapons, he could only carry a maximum of two usually.

The trip down to the planet didn't take long. John took a look out the "window", a holographic terminal that represented what was outside, and saw that the planet was an expanse of barren, red rocks, filled with canyons and low brush. It looked sort of desolate and unforgiving. The perfect place for dangerous aliens to hide.

Shepard had decided to bring EDI along on that mission. John hadn't known that EDI was capable of fighting, and now was intrigued to see what she could do.

Shepard was wearing his same signature silver armor with the N7 logo on his shoulders. He turned to John and EDI and said, "Our back up is waiting at drop off point. Aralakh Company, Krogan Commandos."

"That is correct," said EDI, "They are an accomplished unit. Made famous for their decisive action liberating a colony from Batarian pirates."

"Good to hear," said Shepard approvingly, waving his Mattock Assault rifle around for emphasis, "Other than that, there's been no word from a team of Krogan scouts since they went through the Rachni Relay."

"There are many reasons that communications could be disrupted," said EDI.

"We don't know much, but no Rachni activity has been reported."

"Then why are we here?" asked John.

"To assess the situation," said Shepard, "Its troubling there are rumors at all. Three years ago I let the last Rachni queen live on the condition that she never bother other species again. She claimed that the Rachni were peaceful, made violent in the wars by the Reapers. I still wonder as to what motives the Reapers would have had to starting that war."

EDI said, "Maybe it was to weaken them before the Harvest began?"

John then joined the conversation and asked, "How come you let them live sir?"

Shepard replied, "I didn't think I was the one to judge whether or not a species should go extinct. I sure as hell wouldn't want the Rachni to kill off all humans if the roles were reversed. Besides, she had done nothing to humanity."

"Hmmm."

Cortana said privately to John, "The Commander seems to be merciful. Maybe too merciful."

Quietly, John said, "Maybe."

"Here we are," said Steve , "Radio in when you need a pick up."

They stepped out onto the ground of Utukku, and John felt the crunch of dirt as his boots met the earth. In front of him were Krogan, covered in black battle armor. But one particular Krogan, a huge one with silver armor and a bumpy, uneven faceplate, came up through two other Krogan and gave Shepard some friendly shoves on the shoulder. This Krogan was not like the others, his head crest was different, not fully fleshed out. He also was of a different skin tone, more like a light salmon color, as opposed to the tan that most Krogan, like Wrex were. He also had very few scars, another thing that set him apart from the other violent reptiles.

"SHEPARD! SHEPARD!" said the Krogan with an air of utter happiness.

Cortana said, "Well this is an obviously a friend of the Commander."

Shepard smiled and said, "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question. Didn't those idiots lock you up?"

John became interested now, wanting to know if possibly, his Commander had been put in jail.

"They did," said Shepard, "Put me in lockdown to keep the Batarians off me. Didn't want problems with the council while they prepared for war. But the situation changed."

"Yeah they got bigger problems alright, that's why I'm here running Aralakh Company. They're tough," Grunt gestured over to the Krogan gathering around the trailer, "Think they're invincible, crude but effective."

John saw a few of the Krogan not wearing helmets have large toothy grins.

"Sounds familiar Grunt," said Shepard, "How'd you go from being new and unproven to having your own command?"

"Heh. Wasn't easy. When Wrex put Aralakh company together he needed a leader who represented the future of our species. Thanks to you, I was an equal member of Clan Urdnot, and being the strongest, I was chosen to lead this honored company."

"Doesn't lack for confidence does he?" quipped Cortana. John shushed her, and Grunt looked at him, noticing.

Grunt took a small step over, leveling his face above John's flat helmet. He said, "Who's this Shepard?"

"Operations Chief John Spartan, Alliance Marine."

"He's…special," said Shepard. "I'll tell you more later."

"Armor looks hi-tech."

"That's cuz it is," said John without interest.

Grunt said nothing for a second after leaving his stare down with John and then said, "Hard to believe that this might be Rachni. Rachni, a chance to face the old enemy? Impossible to resist."

"We're don't know if the Rachni are involved with this at all. We're here to find the scouts. I didn't see any signs of activity on our approach," said Shepard.

"Agreed," nodded Grunt, "but this place smells wrong."

"Smells?" said John.

"An instinct, if you will."

"Hmmmm."

"Our scans show that the tunnels lead to a large central point. If we're lucky, it's a nest."

"A nest would be more efficient for us," said John.

Grunt only made a small laugh, and then called his troops to movement. "Grab what you need Shepard, and meet us at the Scout Camp."

Shepard nodded and the Krogan left. John moved into the buildings, taking a look around to see if there was anything useful for them to use. Sitting on a desk, undisturbed by anything, was a Claymore shotgun. Remembering the time killing the Pyjaks on Tuchanka, John decided to pick up the claymore and take it with him. It felt good, more sturdy than the Scimitar.

Shepard said approvingly, "Find something you like, Chief."

Cortana said on their radio channel, "Just a little pick me-up."

"Was that your AI?" said Shepard, intrigued.

"Yes, sir," said Cortana.

"Alright then, lets move on then."

And so they did.


	17. Meanwhile

**MOAR UPLOADS :p**

* * *

Brothers In Steel Chapter 16- Meanwhile…

True to their word, the Krogan had found the _Forward Unto Dawn,_ and had decided to pick it clean of anything valuable. The weapons they found, such as SPUNKR-missile launchers, Battle Rifles, MA5B assault rifles, and M90 shotguns, they decided to toss away, as they were not as advanced or effective as what they already had. The large pile of weapons was eventually burnt down to slag, while the metal from the ammunition was used to make mass accelerator rounds for the Krogan's own weapons.

A few Covenant weapons were also found and these were of greater interest to the Krogan. They tested them quite a bit on local fauna, such as the Klixens and feral Varren, and found that plasma weaponry was quite effective, quite able to suit their needs. The Krogan took about ten of them , and decided that once the war was over, they would hire private contractors to unlock the weapons' secrets and possibly manufacture them. There were also a few vehicles, including the Warthog that Chief and the Arbiter had taken off the ring. These were taken back to the Urdnot camp, as wheeled vehicles were more fit for moving across Tuchanka's nuclear wastes.

The salvage teams continued to get what they could, but the advancement of Reaper Scouts prompted Urdnot Wrex to call back them to safer areas of operation. A few Krogan were no match for a Reaper Destroyer, of which several had been moved down to the planet in preparation for an invasion. And because the Krogan had to hastily move out they never checked the whole ship, for deep within a nook in the ship's walls, something alien, something that should have never been there, was still alive, waiting for the first chance it could to leave.

One lone Varren, after having its pack killed by a group of Cannibals moved through the area, underneath the _Forward unto Dawn_. The scaly cross between mammal and reptile was sheeking shelter, and climbed into the ship. The ship rustled and creaked underneath the creature, and the Varren became wary, and slowly continued into the ship.

The Krogan had not been gentle; they had ripped apart doors in their wake, they had moved apart pieces of bulkhead and left them where they were. The Varren moved through the ship's mess hall, of which the Krogan had moved all the tables to the far end of the wall and had started picking up the floor boards. There was a broken Assault Rifle on the ground along with a pile of dirt in a corner. The Varren sniffed the ground; something wrong had passed through here, but whether it was predator or prey was not known.

A hissing noise sounded, and the Varren saw a shot of green move behind a piece of metal stacked against the wall. The Varren was intrigued.

The Varren moved in, closer, and sniffed. The table banged and fell over and the Varren jumped back in surprise. He saw a creature run out to another table and then the Varren chased and pounced it. What happened next was completely unexpected.

Like a fist, something hit the Varren in the jaw, but something stayed there, clamping onto the jaw of the Varren. A shot of pain hit the Varren's throat and it felt something pierce its throat. A lump was attached to him, and hot, sticky blood spurted everywhere. The Varren started to choke, its throat being filled with what felt like tentacles. Then a shock so powerful knocked the Varren out and it felt no more.

A few minutes of silence passed. Then, the body of the Varren, covered in growths and strange roots growing out of its back and out of one of its eye sockets, got up. Its body was limp but still moving. It was no longer a Varren, it was now a vessel of death and destruction.

This vessel was the **Flood**.


	18. Bug Hunt the Second

**Hello all,**

**Well, that was certainly the plot twist wasn't it? I considered that if John and Cortana survived, a Flood infection form could. And maybe a sneaky one latched onto the Forward Unto Dawn at the last second right? :p Also, would anybody good at making art want to make me a picture for the story? I would like to see a Master Chief with blue armor and maybe an omni-blade with a Reaper in the backdrop? That would be awesome, but its ok if nobody can work miracles haha **

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**Brothers In Steel Chapter 17: Bug Hunt The Second**

The metal trailer slid into the canyon, with a prodigious thud and a loud slide of rocks and debris. John was knocked to his feet and EDI somehow managed to keep her balance. Shepard was completely alright, and dusted off his greaves.

"Shepard!" yelled out Grunt, from the top of the canyon, "You still in one piece?"

"Looks like we're all okay. Keep in radio contact!"

The cavern was dark and ominous. John didn't feel any concerns, he had done this sort of thing before, though he wasn't about to become overconfident. He pulled out his Claymore shotgun. Shepard said, "Chief, take point."

"Sir."

John walked in, at a slow pace, taking an examination of his surroundings. He walked down a little and saw a corpse; a Krogan, laying in a frozen spasm of pain, still clutching a weapon in his hands.

John said, "Found a dead Krogan."

"Check if he still has his weapon," said Grunt over the communicator, "He won't be needing it anymore."

The weapon appeared to be a gun with a bottle strapped to the top. John pulled the trigger, and a small jet of flame came out from the barrel. From behind his helmet, John grinned. Flamethrowers were fun.

In front of the body though was something strange. A blockade of strange fibers was covering up the tunnel. EDI postulated, "Is that…webbing?"

John fired the flamethrower, and the webbing melted away easily without effort. The rest of the tunnel was before them, and John continued to move in, checking his corners and waving his flashlight around for safety.

The cavern became significantly larger. Strange blue light trickled up from underground pools and strange luminous mushrooms. John looked around, continuously moving forward, but keeping his head checked. Then he saw a flash of movement and spun toward it. A strange _skree_ sound followed.

"Did anyone see that?" he said.

"Confirmed," said EDI.

"Lets continue moving," said John.

They turned around a corner, and right in front of John, were several bulbous objects on the ground. They looked somewhat like eggs to him, and if that was the case, then this was a nest. John used the flamethrower on the eggs, and they erupted with a squelch and popped out strange liquids. A dropped landed on John, and his MJOLNIR shields sizzled.

"Ah shit, its acid." Said John.

John continued to clear out the pods, but eventually ran out of fuel for the flamethrower. He tossed it unceremoniously aside and then decided to use his pistol instead. The work was slow, tedious, and there always seemed to be more of them around a corner. They seemed to know when a person was nearing too, and would explode when John came too close, sending bits of acid flecking onto his shields.

Eventually, after burning through more walls of webbing, they reached a very large open chamber. The team dropped down onto the ground. And then the Reapers attacked.

A monstrous, giant insect appeared out of nowhere on a rock outcropping. It had a sac for a body and a few pincer like legs, but on its head were two large cannons. Blazes of heat and fire shot their way out at John and Shepard, who both got quickly to cover.

But then, strange monstrosities, unlike anything John had encountered appeared. They were humans, or at least had once been, and their skin had been turned to a mottled gray, with their eyes glowing blue, like cinders. They moaned in such a terrifying way that a lesser man might cringe. They moved up , without any regard for safety without any tactics in mind. While firing his claymore at two of them, John asked, "What are these things?"

"Husks." Answered Shepard, "These are Reaper forces. I'll explain more later."

The Husks fell down easily, their bodies ripped in half by the force of the Claymore's spread.

John loaded a thermal clip in and then two blue lasers appeared on his armor.

"What the –"

The Insect Cannon fired two shots of John, one making a hit, taking out a good portion of John's shield. Cortana yelled, "Keep your head down!"

"You think?" replied John , unamused.

"Those things will ravage our shields."

"Move up!" yelled Shepard, who went around the right side, firing bursts of Avenger fire onto the Ravager, as John decided to call it.

John got behind a piece of cover, and realized the Ravager was right above him. He quickly got up, and then fired his Claymore directly into the beast's sac. The Beast exploded, and small insects, flew about, one of which landed near John's feet. It exploded in a tight _pop_, and acid stained John's boot.

"Rachni presence confirmed." Said EDI.

Shepard radioed Grunt, and said, "Grunt, there are Rachni down here, modified and very dangerous."

"Finally," said Grunt with zeal, "Something to kill."

* * *

Another hour of moving through the corridors and taking out eggs took place. This was very irritating, as they couldn't let up their guard, but no enemy presence persisted. Then, as the team appeared in a large, rounded cupola, they saw the Krogan team, led by Grunt, shooting at modified Rachni troops pouring out of a hole in the cavern wall.

The Krogan stood out in the open, and were completely exposed to the enemy's fire. John watched as Grunt charged head on into a Ravager, pushing through it and knocking it to the ground, then following up with a deadly Claymore blast to the head.

"Shepard, we're blocked!" yelled Grunt.

"Hang on, I'm on it!" replied Shepard.

They moved in and John melted a layer of webbing.

But out of nowhere, several eggs exploded, and a swarm of agitated Rachni babies jumped out . One latched onto EDI, who frantically tried to brush it off. John had one cling onto his face. He reached up and threw it away where it then popped and exploded with acid.

John saw another layer of webbing in front of him, and melted that too, and felt his shields go down, as more of the Rachni babies attacked from behind. "Get my back!" he yelled out.

"There's the power node!" yelled out EDI. A little while before they had encountered a Reaper barrier, and had disabled it by destroying a power node in another tunnel. John assumed they had to do the same and lit the node on fire. It shattered, and a door across the room opened.

The Krogans backed up while firing shots at the Rachni. A Ravager fell, and then the others retreated falling back into some crevices in the rock.

"Thanks Shepard," said Grunt, jumping down onto the ground. "We found the Scout team, they were hit hard, and they moved in hear to drop us weapons. They knew the next team would need help."

Cortana said quietly, "They sacrificed themselves to give us this chance at destroying the nest. Lets make it worth it."

"Anyways," continued Grunt, "That wasn't webbing stopping us. It was Reaper Tech. Which definitely proves the link. I think they are breeding an army down here."

"Agreed," said Shepard.

"The Rachni have backed off for now. But they can still smell our wounds. Any worthy enemy would regroup and finish us…soon."

Shepard paused for a second in thought and then said, "We're close Grunt, and those barriers were protecting whatever is down there."

"Alright," said Grunt, "We'll stay here and hold them off, buy you some time."

"Good luck." Said Shepard.

"I don't need luck," said Grunt with an air of confidence, "I have ammo."

"That was cheesy," said Cortana.

"Pretty much," said John.

Shepard turned and smiled and said, "That's just Grunt."

The Krogan turned and left to guard the passage. Shepard went up to small crack, big enough for a man to slip through by laying prone and crawling. "Only way is through here. Who's excited to go first? EDI?" said Shepard amusedly.

One of things about Shepard that John had noticed was his sense of humor in some of the oddest times.

"I'll go," said John.

John pushed his way into the crack, and slid down to the exit, onto a hard, stone floor. Where he exited out was a huge cavern, unlike any before, and there were mechanical bits of Reaper tech protruding out of the walls, and from underneath the ground.

"What is this?" said John.

Then right in front of them, a huge barrier erected itself. Two barriers also erected themselves to the side of the small bridge to the "island."

"Where's the node for this?" asked John rhetorically, the realizing that it was up above him. A node was located right on the wall, about ten or so feet above. He pulled out his assault rifle and then fired a burst into the center of the node. A barrier to the left of them fell down, and revealed that several Husks and a few strange new enemies were waiting.

They were taller, and seemed humanoid as well, but they appeared to have more than one…face. They looked composed of several bodies, all at disjointed and disconnected angles, and they let out a fierce battle cry.

The monstrosities would go down though, and John fired right at their heads. A Husk came up to him on his left side, prompting Cortana to shout out, "Left!"

He activated his omni-blade and then swung around, decapitating the bastard and letting blue-black blood shoot out like a geyser. John got into cover and shot down some more coming his way. EDI shot out a burst of fire from her omni-tool at a Ravager, who then burned away and exploded in a splash of acid and guts.

After burning ammo through the Reaper forces the team found another node. They shot it and it was revealed that the other barrier, on the right side of the "bridge" was now down. With luck, the node deactivating the main barrier would be on that side. They ran over to the other side, and engaged the forces guarding that node as well.

It seemed very convenient to John that the node that activated the main barrier was behind the second barrier. It almost felt like a game. Almost.

They managed to turn it off. Another wave of Reapers came, and they fell down within the same amount as the first two waves.

A loud noise, like shrill, sounded throughout the cavern.

Grunt's voice came up on the communicator. "Shepard, the Rachni are backing off. Whatever spooked them won't last. Finish the job!" He growled.

Shepard brought down the last barrier, and they moved in.

And before them, was something monstrous.


	19. Bug Hunt the Third

**Shepard asks some really stupid questions sometimes.**

**-Gehenna**

* * *

Brothers In Steel: Chapter 18: Bug Hunt The Third

The creature propped up in the central chamber was a monstrosity the kind of which John had never seen. It was a huge insect, with a triangular head consisting of a large beak and two beady eyes. The creature was covered in tough, armor like plates, and had some sort of restraint around it. Obviously it was not there by choice.

"Silence…"

Something spoke, a thick gravelly voice, but not just one, a bunch of voices tied together. John noticed that there was a dead Krogan on the ground, along with several dead Krogan strapped to the walls in sticky webbing.

"Commander…" said John, unsure of what was going on.

"The maddening sour note has ceased." Said the Krogan body.

"I've seen this before," said Shepard, "The Rachni is using the dead bodies to convey its message. Its speaking to us through them."

Cortana said, "Fascinating."

"Are you the Queen I let go on Noveria three years ago?" asked Shepard.

"Yes. We listen for the Children," the Krogan voices said sadly, "They are silent. The machines come, and take them to war. They DIE!" The Krogan voices yelled angrily, "Alone. Silent. Far Away."

"The Reapers did this to you?"

John wondered why Shepard would bother asking such obvious questions.

"Yes. The sour note of the machines is everywhere!" the voices sounded like they were in agony, struggling to form sentences.

"I gave you a second chance," said Shepard, annoyed, "You promised not to interfere anymore. The Rachni were supposed to disappear!"

"We…remember…we kept our promise, retreated back through the relay, and we started a new home. Beautiful children. Harmony. But," the voices became angered once more, "The Machines came! They hurt our song! Their shriek of sour notes drowned us out."

Shepard replied, "They can't hurt you anymore."

"Yes," said the Rachni, "We understand."

"Can you still feel the Reapers," asked Shepard, "Can they influence you?"

"We hear the machines," said the Rachni queen with pride, "But they cannot control us."

"That node," said Cortana, "Looks like it would free her."

"Yes." agreed Shepard.

"Please free us!" said the voices.

A loud boom echoed and then the Rachni queen let out a shriek, "The children, they return! They will destroy us all! Release us!"

John felt as if the Rachni queen shouldn't giving the orders considering her position. On his radio, he heard Grunt's voice, "We're getting movement here. A lot of movement."

"Copy that, Grunt." Said Shepard.

"What's our next move?" asked John.

"Are you capable of fighting the Reapers?" said Shepard, ignoring John's question. John had a feeling that Shepard was going to try and get the queen to safety. A risky move, but with potential benefits. Choices like this were sometimes difficult for John to decide, it was far easier to receive orders and carry them out. In Shepard's place though, he would have done the same.

"WE!" yelled the Voices with vigor, "WILL FIGHT FOR OUR UNBORN CHILDREN!"

"The Queen is badly wounded," said EDI, "She will need time to escape."

Another boom echoed. Grunt's voice came back on the comm, "We are running out of time! If we stay here, Aralakh company is dead, is that clear?"

_The Krogan can't be helped if we get the Queen out_, thought John.

Shepard responded quickly, "Listen up, Aralakh company holds the Rachni off while the Queen escapes. We'll buy you some time. Grunt, fall back to our position and lead us out."

"DAMN YOU SHEPARD!" yelled Grunt angrily, "I'M LEAVING MY TEAM, ON MY WAY!"

Obviously, due to the Krogan hating the Rachni, sacrificing Krogan to save a Queen would make Grunt furious.

"Commander!" yelled EDI.

"That's an order! She's too valuable an asset to lose!" said Shepard.

Shepard fired a shot into the node, and the Rachni Queen was freed. She roared and her beak opened up , similar to an Elite's mouth. No longer restrained, she looked impressive and powerful.

An explosion from behind them drew John's attention. Standing in the smoke, holding a shotgun, was Grunt.

All Grunt did was huff and Shepard said, "Come on, we're leaving."

The cavern was long and spacious, and the team was able to get a running start. But Rachni soldiers up above them shrieked and prepared to block them. A shot from Grunt's shotgun brought down one from an above balcony, and then a few others appeared behind them, laying down fields of fire.

They continued to run at a break-neck pace, ignoring Rachni soldiers, surprised at their movements, and jumping over fissures in the rock. A piece of rock fell from the ceiling and nearly hit John. John wasn't breaking a sweat though, and calmly continued to follow Grunt.

There was a tunnel, and the team went in for refuge. John slowed himself down, and saw that Grunt and Shepard had stopped.

"Why…" began John.

"Shuttles down this path. I'll hold them off. Get out of here Shepard" yelled Grunt, his teeth bared in savagery.

"I can help him," said John.

"Can you?" said Shepard.

"Trust me, I've been outnumbered before."

"Grunt?"

Grunt sneered and said, "One's better than two, but get out of here if I go down."

"Alright," said Shepard, "We're going."

Grunt gestured to John after they left, "Follow me."

Cortana did not approve, "I hope you know what you're doing."

In front of them , several Rachni prepared themselves for battle slowly moving up. More Rachni were appearing from above, and a few were crawling from below. The bulbous creatures hissed and shrieked, and smaller ones crawled all around. "Back to back!" said John.

Grunt and John put themselves together, John facing the left, and Grunt facing the right. The Rachni charged in fury.

They put the Rachni down with brutal efficiency. John brought down two in one shot, and Grunt pushed back with his bare hands any that came up to close. The two warriors rotated , trying to cover all sides, keeping the Rachni at bay.

"Don't get to close!" said Grunt, referring to the edge of a steep cliff.

They continued to hold their ground in the center, but John was running out of ammo, fast.

"Damn it." Said John, as his claymore went dry. Pulling out his Avenger would take too much time, so he quickly brought out the Predator and blasted a Rachni at point blank range before it could jump on him.

"Too Close!" yelled John, "We need to get the hell out of here!"

Grunt growled and then let out a mighty roar, "I AM KROGAN. Get out here, I'll distract them!"

"What?"

"No time to argue! Get going."

John snapped around and took out another screaming Rachni, then Cortana said, "We need to go now!"

John scowled and said, "Alright."

"GO NOW" said Grunt as he roared charged head first into a mob of Rachni. The Rachni toppled him over and proceeded to stomp on Grunt and bite at his face and back. John took the initiative, and after stabbing through two Rachni, was home free. He looked back, and saw Grunt lift them off and then start bashing them with a ripped off Rachni cannon, bashing them and flattening them like obscene rotten fruit.

John wouldn't move. Then he said , "No."

John began to run, Cortana yelled at him to stop but he ignored her. He ignited his omni-blade and then slashed at a Rachni trying to smother Grunt. It felt apart in half and John quickly moved to the next one. Grunt got up and then used his hammer to flatten some more. Then he yelled, "Lets get out of here!"

"Alright." Said John.

They ran as fast as they could, both of them drenched in acidic Rachni blood. They ran, and ran, and ran until finally the noises of the Rachni were no more and then they stopped.

"Thanks." Said Grunt, panting.

"No problem."

Grunt took a brief pause then said, "Hey, what are you? How can you not be a little tired?"

"It would take too long to explain, so I'll just say that I'm physically fit."

"Heh. You're a freak of nature, but you have my respect. Now let's get out of here…um, what's your name?"

"John."

"John."

And so they walked out, with a shuttle waiting in the sunset. And John could hear Grunt say exasperatedly to Shepard, "Does anyone have something to eat?..."


	20. Rapture

**Here's another one. Enjoy!**

**~ Gehenna**

* * *

Brothers in Steel Chapter 19: Rapture

Cerberus Operative Michael Shay crouched down on the red Tuchanka soil, and held his Phalanx Pistol Mark III at the ready. It was a small thing, with a white curved handle and a black barrel. Wearing white prototype Cerberus armor, he was well prepared for any attack, but he still had a feeling of apprehension from the untimely demise of one of the Privates, Private Wesley who had gone down to check out the noises coming from down in the canyon five minutes ago, and had not returned. Now it was up for Shay to find out what happened.

He slowly moved up. His armor did not have cooling units and the weather was close to a hundred degrees. Shay walked down, and then took cover behind a wall of red stone. The area they were in was about south of a recently taken Krogan Air to Space cannon. Shay had been part of a five man team that was sent to perform recon in the area.

Shay turned his head around the corner and saw the dead body of Wesley, lying on his chest, a strange , mottled gray-green orb attached to the back of his skull. What had happened to him. Then, Shaw saw the body of what looked like a Varren near by. The Varren was dead, but it appeared as if its body had exploded, in a mass of green goop.

Shay took an aim with his Phalanx to scope out the area and moved up to the body.

The body was still, Wesley was definitely dead. Shay took a look to examine the body.

Then it moved.

The body shook around feral like, and let out a strange ominous growl.

"What the hell?"

The body got up and slapped him in the face, sending Shay to the ground. The body of Welsey was still wearing its armor but had green and orange growths, like gnarled roots, sticking out of the arms and chests. It growled at him

Shay quickly shot at the creature, but it seemed to not care, and it limped at him and charged.

Shay did a barrel to the right. The creature swung its arm around.

A shot came from above on the top of the canyon; two of Shay's men shot out a net from a net gun. The net trapped the creature, bringing it down to the ground. Quickly, Shay used his boot to clamp the net to the ground, the creature flailing about.

Shay panted for a second and then examined the thing up close.

It appeared to be Wesley's body but being controlled somehow, by some sort of unknown vector.

With anyone else in the galaxy, a normally sane person, they would have destroyed the thing right there. But Shay was Cerberus, and they always wanted to try and learn more, in order to try and find more ways to further the cause of humanity. Whatever this thing was, thought Shay, it was worth preserving.

"Get me the Illusive Man. Tell him we found something worth his attention."

* * *

The mission on Utukku being a success was a significant boost to crew morale and even John felt a little happier from it.

One of the things about being on the Normandy though that John noticed was how the Commander seemed to enjoy getting to know his crew. He had seen the Commander go twice to talk to the Krogan female inside the sick bay and also to talk to Garrus who was either in the lounge drinking or attending to the Normandy's guns.

So it was no surprise that one day, while merely reading about the history of the Quarian-Geth conflicts, the commander walked into John's room.

John stood at attention, giving a stiff salute that the Commander responded to with an "At Ease." John got back to his seat and waited for the Commander to say something. The Commander walked over to the window, looked at the engine core that was pulsating purple and blue, then without looking at John he asked, "So how have you been fitting into the Normandy?"

"This an off the record thing, sir?"

"Of course, John."

"I have adjusted well sir."

"Good," said the Commander, taking a seat on John's chair. John leaned up against the wall casually. John was not used to, nor good at conversation, so he stood there silently.

"So, you told me when we first met that you were a…"

"Spartan, sir."

"Right, obviously they taught you how to fight. And they gave you some impressive toys."

"Yes, sir."

"How many ships like this one have you served on?"

"Too many to count, but the one most like the _Normandy _was the _Forward unto Dawn_. It was a small frigate, not too powerful, but fast."

"So, in your universe, how was Humanity when you left it?"

"Hard to say. When I left it to do battle, it was under siege and occupation by the Covenant. Of course, you don't know who they are, so the Covenant is a conglomeration of alien races unified underneath a common religion. I never asked them what it was called, too busy shooting them."

Shepard put his hand up to his chin, and stroked it, in thought, "We've had our share of problems with aliens here."

"The Reapers?"

"Yes, but thirty years ago, the Turians, Garrus's kind, engaged us because we tried to activate a dormant mass relay. They fought a war, only lasted a few months, but, if the Council hadn't intervened they might have found Earth, and blasted it back to the stone age."

John thought about telling him of how the Covenant turned the planet Reach's surface into nothing but glass, but instead said, "I can relate."

"So, you think Earth is fine now?"

"Honestly no, I think it will be quite a while before Earth can fight off the Brutes, the last organized faction of the Covenant."

"Brutes? What are they?"

"Big dumb apes."

Shepard laughed, "Dorry, I know I shouldn't be laughing at that, but the idea of that Is humorous at least in my mind."

"Eh, doesn't matter, I can't do anything about it from here. And I will probably never be able to return."

"So obviously you seem most comfortable in war, you didn't even know what we were fighting for, or what we were fighting against."

John thought about it for a second, "War is my life."

"I see."

Neither of them said anything for a while and then the Commander asked, "You don't have to answer this, but, how did you become a Spartan?"

John looked away for a moment, recalling the moments on the operating table, where sterilized needles bored their way into his flesh causing pain to flare all over his body. They made his skeleton invincible, his reflexes super human, and his body grow to huge heights. This was one of the few memories that actually made him feel unpleasant, but he was strong and answered the Commander, "I was chosen and they put me through special training. I was given chemicals that augmented my body to make it more combat prone. They gave me the armor when I graduated. And they had me fight the Covenant on numerous missions. Now that that's over, I'm not going to let it go to misuse. I give you my aid, and you give me a purpose. Seems like a fair trade."

The Commander smiled, "Well then, I thank you John, for your enthusiasm."

"Just doing my job."

"Alright," said Shepard, "I'll talk to you later."

"Yes, sir," said John as Shepard walked out of the room.

* * *

John heard that soon they would be making a drop to cure the Krogan Genophage and hopefully move on with the war effort. From what he had seen of the Reapers on Utukku, he knew this would be more akin to fighting the Flood. Zombie shock troops required no supply lines, did not retreat, had no fear, no morale, and had no pity. They were easier to pull the trigger on but harder to continuously fight them. But John would be ready. He always was.

One day he went down to the armory, and saw that on a workbench, his armor had been taken out of its case, and laid out. John had a problem with anybody who would be touching his armor, and saw that the Salarian who they had picked up on the Sur'kesh mission, was poking the armor with strange instruments and doing scans with his omni-tool.

"Hey!" said John gruffly.

"Ah. John Spartan. Know what this looks like. Got permission from Shepard. Scanning experimental Armor systems. Impressed with findings. Must say, quite a discovery," said Mordin happily, with scientific interest. The Salarian had many wrinkles on his face, which denoted his age of almost forty years.

Getting permission from the commander gave John no option to stop the strange alien from touching it, but he decided to stay and watch anyway.

"What exactly are you doing?" John asked with annoyance.

"Looking for ways to adapt tech to STG armor models. Would save lives on the fronts. Regardless of Salarian choice in war, STG pledged to help human race fight Reapers on Earth."

"I see. I suppose that is good."

"Yes, indeed. Not scanning armor for nefarious purposes, neither trying to sabotage, merely studying. Heard you are ex-universal. Strange but not possible, if you would be so kind, explain how that happened?"

John found it odd that the alien was very accepting of such a thing but instead just said, "There was a random slipspace rupture in space, my ship flew into it and sent me here."

"Slipspace?"

"Yeah, I heard something that you guys don't have that here."

"Is that a method of interstellar travel?"

"Yes."

"Can you explain how it works?"

John didn't know how actually. He was sure Cortana could though, "Obviously you have the Commander's trust. Why don't you just talk to my AI."

"Personal AI? Very interesting. Will do that. My thanks for not being suspicious of me."

"I trust the Commander. If he says you are good, you are good."

"Yes, the Commander, good man, a little idealistic."

That interested Chief, so he asked, "How so?"

"Determined to save everyone, believes not so much in the 'greater good' but right thing, every time. Humans might say, self righteous."

"Ah."

"Yes. But Shepard only hope to stop Reapers. And to save Krogan."

John said nothing to that, and merely gave a curt nod and a goodbye and left the Scientist to his work.


	21. Tuchanka Part 1

**Wow. twenty chapters. Didn't think I'd get this far.**

**Enjoy! ~ Gehenna**

* * *

Brothers in Steel Chapter 20: Tuchanka Part 1

As if by some weird crux of fate, John had returned to where he had arrived in this universe. It was a little funny, because Eve, the female Krogan, after learning of the story of John from Wrex, came to him before their departure to the planet. She said, "I believe that it was destiny that you arrived on Tuchanka. I believe that some force wanted you to aid us. Take this," she gave him a small amulet, "as a token of appreciation. You could have landed on any planet, or anywhere, but fate brought you to Tuchnanka. And obviously you are not finished yet."

Although John was no superstitious, her words did seem to ring true in a certain sense. Tuchanka was vital to the war. The war that he was now involved in.

The mission was simple, although the Commander had told him that things had gotten complicated; a Reaper, referred to as a "Destroyer" had parked in front of the facility in which the cure for the genophage would be implemented.

John was shown a picture of it, and saw its immediate resemblance to a scarab.

"We've all run the sims," Sergeant Avery Johnson had said during the battle of New Mombasa, "They're tough, but they ain't invincible."

John hoped it applied to the Reaper Destroyer.

The team, consisting of Wrex, Shepard, John, Eve, Mordin and Garrus, were all uncomfortably squeezed into the tiny shuttle. Wrex paced around, taking away even more room.

"I've ordered the clans to assemble at the Hollows," said Wrex, "Its our sacred meeting grounds. We'll land there and then take an armored convoy against the Reaper."

Cortana asked for John, who was thinking the same thing, "How are tanks going to take out an enemy of that size?"

"Well," said Shepard, "its more of a distraction to get Mordin to the tower, and implement the Cure. We don't necessarily have to destroy the Reaper."

"Indeed, we also have air support," continued Wrex, "And Thanix missiles can do damage, if you hit the weak spot on the central firing mechanism."

Not much of a chance, thought John to himself.

"This will be the defining moment of Krogan History," said Wrex proudly.

Mordin lectured in response, "Krogan history filled with defining moments. Mostly bloody, hope this one is better."

There was a silence, until Eve remarked, "Commander, you seem troubled, something on your mind?"

"I got a message-," he began , until the ship lurched, and they all shook around.

"Wrex!" said a voice, similar to Wrex's but with a tone of annoyance and bitterness, opposite of Wrex's powerful inspiring voice. "Its Wreav. The Reapers are already at the Hollows. Come out with guns blazing."

"Trouble." Was all John remarked.

Everybody got up and readied weapons. The shuttle landed, sending up a cloud of dust off the aged stone. The shuttle's door opened, and a surprised Husk yelled out. Wrex shot a blast from his Eviscerator Shotgun. The Husk's face was blown off and it collapsed to the ground.

Wrex jumped off the shuttle and said, "Keep them away from the Female! I'll go sort out what's happening with the other clans."

John jumped out. The hallows was a wide circular arena, with dilapidated sandstone walls and polygons sticking up out the ground. Across the room was a broken wall, with structural supports sticking out like bones sticking out of a carcass.

Three husks charged at John, one of them grabbing onto his arm.

He gave it a mighty smack, breaking its jaw, and quickly shot a round from his claymore into the trio, killing them all at once. He reloaded, and helped Garrus fight off a few others coming up the stairs.

John saw Shepard use a sniper rifle to take off a Husk clinging to a Krogan. Shepard took out his own omni blade and stabbed it through the chest of a husk, and then flung the husk over to the edge of an abyss.

The battle was quickly over, and Wrex appeared once again, with a few Krogan behind him. The Krogan were dressed in Battle armor, with proud and dominant looks on their faces. But then another group of Krogan appeared, looking like they wanted a fight.

"They'll sing Battle songs about this someday!" yelled Wrex as he came down the stairs, a shotgun in his hands.

"Reaper blood has finally soaked our soil."

Roars of approval sounded from Krogan above. John looked up and saw many more Krogan, gathering around the multiple levels of the Hollows.

"We have to get to the Shroud," said Shepard urgently, "The Airstrike is under way."

"Female safe, Shepard," said Mordin, just arriving from the shuttle, "Vitals are strong."

"What's a Salarian doing here?" an angry voice said. This was the Krogan that had spoke to them while in the shuttle. He looked very similar to Wrex, only a slight bit smaller, and his face a bit more rough and worn. "Nobody said anything about this!"

"Who are these Krogan?" asked John.

"I am Urdnot Wreav, humans, and…turian," he said, regarding Garrus who merely coughed in awkwardness. Turians and Krogan did not regard each other well.

"Brood brother…" continued Wreav, "To our illustrious leader."

A bunch of Krogan supporting Wrex growled in anger and displeasure. John hoped this could be resolved. Fast.

Wrex said, "Wreav and I share the same mother, and nothing else."

"For which I'm thankful!" yelled Wreav, "I remember what it means to be true Krogan! We flay our enemies alive and drown them in a geyser of their own blood. We do not invite them in our home."

"The Salarian's not your enemy," Shepard explained, "He's here to cure the genophage."

Wreav moved forward, as if he wanted to attack and said, "His Kind gave us the Genophage! Why should we trust him?"

Wrex responded by head butting Wreav in the face with his thick, bony headcrest.

Krogan on each side became angry, inflamed by the rising passions of the two Krogan brothers. Some took out their shotguns, as did Wreav, but then a voice, clear and demanding sounded out from above, "ENOUGH!"

It was the female Krogan.

"You can stay here," she began, "And let old wounds fester as Krogan have always done. Or you can fight the enemy that you were born to destroy, and win a new future for our children. I choose to fight."

John rarely felt admiration from speeches, he had heard too many, but this one rang true to him.

"Who will join me?"

Shepard said, "I will."

John said, "I will."

Garrus said, "Sure, why the hell not?"

"And so will I," Wrex affirmed, "Now hold your heads high like true Krogan. There's a Reaper that needs killing!"

All the Krogan from both sides growled in anticipation, ready for an upcoming challenge.

With that, they got into the trucks.

* * *

The trucks were like those that John had ridden in on his first visit to Tuchanka. It was not a very comfortable ride; the truck continuously bumped and shook due to the ground of Tuchanka being mostly composed of rubble and sinkholes.

While in the cramped car, Shepard revealed something. He said, "The Salarian Dalatrass tried to cut a deal with me."

"What kind of deal?" asked Wrex.

"She said they sabotaged the Shroud years ago. The cure won't work until we fix it."

"And she thought we wouldn't know better?" said Wrex, incredulous.

"Correctly," Mordin said, "Would likely have fooled tests. But, Familiar with STG work. Can adjust. Did not come all this way for nothing."

"You spared our race another genocide Commander," said the Female Krogan.

"I told you we could count on him."

The truck started to slow down, and Wrex got up and said, "Why are we stopping?"

Shepard and Garrus got out of the truck. Shepard told John to stay in the truck, just in case there was trouble.

A few minutes later, John heard noises of battle. The airstrike must have come early.

Then a huge explosions sounded and the truck rumbled for a moment. Shepard's voice came on the com, "Wrex! Get the female out of here! Go!"

Wrex got on the controls of the car and quickly dashed out of there. John said, "What just happened, why are we leaving them behind."

"The Reaper was too much for the Turians, we got to move now."

John looked at the rearview mirrors and saw that many truscks had been tossed about like nothing, and were either smoking, or merely flipped over, their drivers and Krogan trapped.

Things just got a whole lot more complicated.


	22. Tuchanka Part 2

**Brothers in Steel Part 21: Tuchanka Part 2**

* * *

The truck was violently thrashing about as it tried to escape away from the battle.

The female Krogan was clutching tightly to her seat, and John was doing his best to keep balanced with each shake. Mordin had moved up to the front seat to aid Wrex in driving.

"Wrex, are you receiving this?" asked Shepard over the Comm, "is everbody ok?"

Wrex sounded out loud and clear from atop his driver's seat, "Just scratches, nothing the Salarian can't patch up. Wreav's truck made it too."

"The Turians had to call off the airstrike. We'll have to form a new plan to deal with the Reaper."

Wrex made a sharp turn that jolted Chief forward and caused Cortana to curse, "First we'll have to find you. Where did you end up?"

"Underground," answered Shepard, "In ruins of some kind."

At that point Eve gave her commentary, "Commander, that's the city of the ancients."

"Um, How do we get out?"

"No maps exist, its been abandoned for thousands of years."

"Terrific," said John.

Wrex didn't seem dismayed, "You're a trailblazer Shepard. Get through there, and we'll find a place to meet up."

Wrex drove the Truck into smoother surface, moving into an area of worn, dilapidated buildings made of stone. Though John couldn't see that. Eventually, he heard Mordin ask where they were.

"Must be the top side of the City of Ancients," said Wrex with a shrug, "If Shepard comes out it will be around here somewhere."

"And if he doesn't..." began Cortana, before John shushed her.

"Did you feel a tremor?" asked Shepard.

"Not up here," said Wrex, "Must be something down there."

"Commander, it is said that this city is where Kalros the mother of all Thresher Maws lives, and that this is her lair."

"What's a Thresher Maw?" asked John.

"Its like a worm," said the Female Krogan in a teacher-like tone, "But it spits acid and grows to enormous sizes. Their embryos travel across space to numerous worlds after being sent out from, according to legend, Kalros."

"That sounds like a major galactic problem," said Cortana in an incredulous tone. "And nobody has done anything about it?"

The female Krogan shook her head.

Cortana sighed in derision.

Suddenly, John heard Wrex yell, "Incoming fire!"

A blaze of red and orange flared up above them. John asked, "What was that?"

"Looks like the Reapers have been shipping out Rachni troops already," said Wrex, " I hope Shepard doesn't run into any of those in the dark, in close enclosed places."

A few minutes later, they heard Shepard on the radio, as Wrex did a drift, "Wrex, we got Rachni down here. A Dead one."

"Yeah, I know, a few just attacked us. All that matters is getting to that Shroud. Find us, fast."

A few minutes passed as they drove around the outskirts of the ruined city. On the radio John could hear the sound of fighting between Shepard and Garrus against Reaper forces in the city. His hand balled up into a fist, itching for a fight, worried that the two of them wouldn't be able to make it. Eventually thought Wrex let them know that he could see Shepard approaching a bridge.

"Wait there..." began Wrex, "I'll come pick you up, Wait! Kalros!"

"What?" blurted out Chief, as he felt a slight rumble underneath his feet, and then a roar sounded out from behind the truck. The truck hit a bump that knocked John to his feet, and pushed the Female Krogan on her side.

"Maw's Territorial Instinct confirmed!" yelled out Mordin.

"John!" shouted Wrex from above, "Get on the back gun and distract that bastard while I try to meet up with Shepard."

John nodded and helped the female Krogan up. Then he scrambled up the ladder leading up to the back gun of the truck. It didn't take too long for John to figure out how to use, and he got in the seat to get a better view of what was chasing them.

A huge crested object, like a moving mountain, was chasing them through sand and rubble, kicking up dust as it went, and following them with every precise movement. John quickly got into firing mode and began pouring rounds at the creature, to little avail though. The creature's hide was too thick for whatever John was firing at it.

"Hurry up, Wreav," John heard Wrex say. The other truck was even closer to the Maw, and John had to pause his firing as to not hit their allies. Wrev's truck would occasionally get a tap from the Maw and get nuzzled over to the side, but managed to keep far enough away from it to not get eaten.

"I can almost feel the damn thing's breath," complained Wreav over the Comm.

John heard the creature roar again but they managed to out drift it, and the top of its crest swam underneath the sands. "Its gone," said John, relaxing his fingers off the trigger.

"We've almost lost Kalros," said Wrex to Shepard, "Stay where you are and we'll pick you up."

"We're just around the corner," explained Shepard, "Waiting."

John remained in his seat as the truck pulled up.

"Wreav," commanded Wrex, "Keep an eye on that Maw. I don't want it sneaking up on us."

The other Truck came to a halt a few paces behind them.

The door of the Truck creaked open and in came Shepard and Garrus, looking not too worse for wear. A thick rumble came from behind the trucks, shaking the inside of their own. John put his hands on the triggers again, just as Kalros's huge silhouette rushed by them on their left side. John didn't waste the ammounition, and the truck started to move forward. John watched as Wreav's truck was overtaken by the Maw and dragged below the sands in an explosion of dust and grit. And then all of a sudden, the shaking stopped.

There was a pause of silence, then the Female Krogan asked, "What about Wreav?"

"No way he survived that," answered Wrex, "And he was a pain in the ass anyway."

John laughed at that. Cortana said, "Good to know our Allies favor eachother."

"Now lets get on with it. We still got a Reaper waiting for us," said Wrex as they sped off towards the Shroud.


	23. Tuchanka Part 3

**Author's Note- Man it feels good to be working on this fic again. ~ Gehenna**

**Brothers In Steel Part 22: Tuchanka Part 3**

* * *

The Reaper was very...arachnid in its design. It swayed back and forth slowly in front of the shroud, a tall spire like building that emitted a field of blue-green light from its peak. The Reaper would occasionally blare out a horn-like sound. John and Garrus slid out of the truck and stood to look at it. John did not seem to fazed by it; he had fought things of similar size. Garrus however seemed a little skeptical of their success.

"I know we've beaten the odds before, Shepard," Garrus lamented, "But getting to that tower. I don't know."

Wrex, the Female Krogan and Mordin walked up besides them to also gaze at the Reaper. John said as cheerfully as he could manage, "That's not too bad. That thing couldn't precisely hit targets as small as us. It could stomp us though."

"We're curing the Genophage no matter what it takes," said Wrex defiantly, "Everything my people will ever be depends on it."

"Then I hope this idea of yours was a good one," said Shepard, joining them.

"Its her idea, actually," said Wrex, pointing to the Female Krogan.

"Kalros," she explained, "We summon her to the Reaper."

"How?" asked John.

"The tower was built in an arena devoted to Kalros' glory. The Salarians thought she would scare away any intruders."

"Strategy seems to have worked," said Mordin.

"There are two Maw Hammers there, the largest in existence. If you can activate them, Kalros will come. That should distract the Reaper."

"Laboratory nearby, can finish synthesizing cure in there."

"That's convenient," said Cortana.

"Yeah, I wonder if the lab is even usable after a thousand years," said John.

"No time to worry about that," declared Mordin, "Mission too important."

"This is the only way to get the cure to the Shroud," said Wrex.

"Lets all make sure we all get out of here alive. We're going to have one hell of a story to tell," said Shepard proudly.

They began to walk but Wrex halted them, "Wait! No matter what happens, I want you to know," he said to Shepard, "That you've been a champion of the Krogan people, a friend to clan Urdnot, and a brother to me. To every Krogan born after this day, the name 'Shepard' will mean 'hero!'"

Shepard and Wrex did a quick handshake and Wrex finished his speech, "Now lets show them why!"

"Hell yeah!" said Garrus.

John said nothing, having nothing to contribute.

A _skree_! Noise sounded out from behind them. Slowly crawling up from a ditch in the ground, a group of bulbous Rachni soldiers were charging towards them, ready to fire.

"I'll take care of them!" yelled Wrex, "Get to the Shroud!"

Wrex charged at them with primal fury, shooting a blast from his Claymore shotgun and rupturing the sac of one of the Rachni in front with a messy explosion. Then he charged without reloading into the next one, shoving it over on its back, legs flailing about. He roared and said, "I am Urdnot Wrex! And this is My Planet!"

* * *

John was taking point on the bridge when he saw the laser.

"Look out!" yelled Shepard as the red beam scored the bridge. John managed to back away in time not to get fried, but an explosion of dust and rubble kicked up into his visor and clouded his vision, and he rolled onto the ground. The rubble slid over him and he had to kick and claw his way out.

"Are you ok?" asked Garrus. John nodded, and heard the blare of the Reaper.

A long pathway of fallen statues and rubble was in their way and the Reaper was in front of them, its laser shining with radiant red light, as it prepared for another attack. They quickly scurried forward to get to cover. The beam shot again overhead and hit the ground behind John, and he could feel the radiation, his shields sizzling in reaction, lowering in power.

John quickly slided into cover, and ducked down, as the laser dissipated. Then he jumped over the fall cover, smelling the odor of ozone and smoke behind him.

"Just keep moving!" yelled Shepard. Another blast hit a statue in front of the Commander, blowing it into huge chunks of stone, landing all about the battlefield.

"Stick to cover!" yelled Shepard again. Garrus answered him with a grunt and said, "I'm not sure cover's going to work."

"We need to get faster," said John, and he began to speed up, as the Turian fighters returned overhead and began to shoot at the Reaper's center eye. The Reaper closed its armor plates over its eye laser and roared in defiance.

"Commander, this is Artimec Wing. We'll give the Reaper something else to shoot out."

"Now that's bravery," said Cortana.

John continued to run, until he got underneath the Reaper. A blazing ball fell to his right into the sand erupted up flame and grit into the air around him. His shields flared up and he realized that whatever had been shot out was a hostile; it was hard to describe. Its head reminded John of Garrus, so it must have been a turian, but it looked like it had been welded onto something else, with a huge crab-like appendage in place of normal arms.

"What the hell?" asked John to himself as he quickly dodged a swipe from the creature, who roared in anger.

"Get to the left Maw Hammer, John!" yelled Shepard, as more of the creatures were shot out from the Reaper. The dust was growing so thick John was losing visibility. He ran through the cloud and around an enemy, up a flight of stairs. The creatures weren't very agile, so they slowly plodded after him. John ran over to the left Maw hammer, and saw Garrus running after him, his assault rifle clinging close to his chest.

John pressed the only button available. The pedestal it had rested on sunk back into the ground, and John heard the roar of one of the Reaper creatures. He shot it full force in the head with his shotgun, eviscerating it and causing the creature to slump over dead.

"Got the other one!" yelled Shepard, and a humongous gong sounded out.

John ran over to Shepard and Garrus. Shepard quickly ordered them, "Get back to the truck, I'll handle the cure, go!"

"Sir..." began John.

"That's an order!"

John didn't need telling twice. He would have preferred to stay instead of run, but orders were orders, and the Reaper was indeed distracted now.

John and Garrus ran without looking behind them, and they heard the noise of a gigantic screech and the roar of the Reaper behind them. The ground shook with tremors, and Garrus fell to one knee, as a red laser beam zoomed over head. John helped Garrus up and they continued running away from the arena, towards the truck.

John looked behind himself, when he heard the sound of screeching metal. The last thing he saw of the Reaper was it being dragged down underground, the Thresher Maw coiled around its titanic Arachnid body, a turn up of dust and sand thrown about wildly.

"Impressive," said John, admiring nature's handiwork.

"Lets get out of here!" said Cortana. But it wasn't Cortana. Her voice had flared up, become much shriller, almost as if two voices had spoken.

"What just happened?" asked John, concerned.

"I'm fine, but we need to get to the truck!"

John kept running. When he finally got the truck, Wrex and the Female Krogan were waiting for them. A brown snow was starting to fall around them. A brown-white light was emanating from the Stroud, and all the Krogan had gathered around, looking wide-eyed in joy and disbelief.

"Did it work?" asked John, as he looked to the sky, "Is that what the cure looks like?"

"No," answered the Female Krogan, "That is what Rebirth looks like."


	24. Promotion

**Brothers In Steel Part 23: Promotion**

**Author's Note: Yay for Filler Chapters**

* * *

John's boots thudded with each step as he entered the AI core. He took out Cortana's chip from his pocket and put it inside the adapter, and then said grimly as she appeared in front of him, "We need to talk."

"About what?," she tried to say as innocently as possible.

"You know what. On Tuchanka. Your voice. It changed, split. I'm no scientist but that's a sign of something bad."

Cortana sighed and said, "Look Chief, I didn't want to talk about it..."

"You should have." he stated simply.

"The operational average for an AI of my class is seven years. I was put into commission eight years ago."

"Eight years..." John pondered on that. Cortana was getting old for an Artificial Construct.

"Yes. And so it would appear as if I'm finally on my way to Rampancy. It happened the other day as well. All my files flashed green, well not that you would have seen them, but if you could have that's the color they would have BEEN." her voice cracked and split at the end of that.

"Its going to get worse," said John, "There has to be a way to fix it though. This universe has more advanced Artificial Intelligence technology than we do...did. Hell, EDI controls the ship AND walks around in a robot body. There's got to be somebody that can fix you."

"Possibly. I remember EDI remarking that my tech is 2093-level. So its possible someone might have the know how."

"I'll ask Liara, what she knows. She's...a scientist."

"Alright Chief, but promise me something."

John turned around to face his partner, "What?"

"If I go really insane. Don't waste time. Just pull the plug."

John frowned and said nothing. Cortana badgered him again and said, "John, promise."

"Alright, I promise."

* * *

John was on his way to Liara's when he heard his name being called to the CIC over the intercom.

He made his way up there and Samantha Traynor told him that the Commander wanted to see him in his room again.

"Now what?" grumbled John. The last time he had been called up , it was to be reprimanded for "foolhardy" actions. Now he was being called again. He didn't remember doing anything "foolhardy" on Tuchanka, but he marched up all the same.

The Commander was standing in front of his fish tank watching his fish. The colorful creatures swam pleasantly around in their tank, and at first Shepard didn't notice John walk into the room.

"John, good to see you," turning to face John while leaning forwards against the fish tank.

John saluted and said, "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Of course. John its come to my attention that you've proven yourself an invaluable asset."

"Thank you sir."

"So I've decided I'm going to promote you."

That was surprising, but John showed no change of emotion. He merely said, "What would the next rank be, Sir?"

"Traditionally, you would just be bumped up to 2nd Lieutenant, and sent off to Officer's school in Brazil. In fact that's where I trained, when I wanted to become an N1. But these are dire circumstances. So I've decided to bump you up higher and be my 1st Lieutenant."

That was really surprising, "I, thank you sir."

"Not going to ask why?"

"Its obvious sir. You need more officers for the war."

"Yes, but besides James you are the only actual Navy personnel for combat. James, off the record, wouldn't be a very good leader. Until Major Alenko, you'll meet him soon enough, is out of hospitalization and ready to get back into the fight, I need someone ready to take over the ship for me in case something happens. On all four of the missions you've been on, you've shown good aptitude and tactical prowess. You also have discipline. I don't care if we just literally found you floating around in space. You have the tools and the talent, and that's all I care about to win this war."

"Yes, sir," replied John proudly, "I won't let you down."

"Good," said Shepard, "And one more thing."

"Sir?

"I'm going to give you access to my private armory. There are some rare weapons in there, you may want to check out on the way back to the Citadel."

"Thank you Sir, I will do that. Take a look at them, I mean."

"Good, dismissed John."

John turned around and left the room, smiling to himself. Already an officer and it hadn't even been a month. Things were looking good.

* * *

John walked into Liara's room. She was working at some terminal, fingers clacking away at the keyboard, not noticing John walking. Glyph alerted her and Liara hurriedly got up from what she was doing and said, "John. This was unexpected. How can I help you?"

"I need information, scientific information. And you seemed like the best place to start looking."

"What do you need information on," she said curiously. She beckoned him to take a seat on the bed while stood.

"Are you familiar with the term, 'Rampant AI'?"

"Hmmm..." said Liara, "I may have come across it once or twice in Graduate school, but Artifical Intelligence is not my field of expertise."

"And that is?"

"Ancient Alien Civilizations. Xeno Archaeology to be precise. I used to spend most of my time at Prothean dig sites. But explain to me more about this Rampant AI."

"Where I come from, AI like Cortana, you know her right?"

"We've not been formally introduced, but I know who she is."

"Where I come from, AI like Cortana, smart ones, eventually go insane. I don't really know how it works, all I know is that they start to become dangerous, insane even. After their lifespan, they usually are put out of commission, but..."

"You don't want that to happen to Cortana?"

"No."

Liara thought for about a minute and then said "Alright Chief. I don't have any real firsthand knowledge on this, but its possible I might be able to get some old contacts together and dig up some information. I'll let you know what I find." She put a hand on John's shoulder, and he tensed up. "I'll help you in whatever way I can."

John was grateful and said, "Thanks Liara. I didn't really know where else to go with this."

"No problem, we're teammates."

"Yeah, teammates."


	25. Coup Part 1

**Brothers In Steel Chapter 24: Coup Part 1**

* * *

"What exactly have you brought me here, Shay?" asked Henry Lawson, annoyed. Many busy projects involving the Reaper Husks needed to be done today, and he didn't have time for petty intrusions. Henry Lawson was a driven man, with graying hair, furrowed brows, and a slim figure. His obsession was with his legacy, and the experiments he was conducting here were essential to that. What Shay had brought him didn't seem at all useful, not at first glance.

"Sir, this is an unidentified species that we found on Tuchanka. There were no other samples of it, so we had to keep great care to keep it alive," explained Shay, as the two of them walked over to reinforced pen, "Release the specimen!"

A Cerberus soldier up in the command booth pressed a red button to raise down a steel door. At first nothing happened, but then Lawson watched in astonishment as a strange shape began to form out of the darkness, and then a grotesque being appeared, slumping over and walking with a limp.

Its flesh was green-gray and cracked, with many knobby growths placed all over its body. If there had ever been a head it was a gone, covered in a fleshy sac that pulsed with strange energy, tentacle like growths erupting from open sores that leaked white pus on the body. It growled a little bit and stumbled over to the glass wall, bumping into it. This didn't' break its resolve though, and it kept walking into the glass wall. One of its arms had dislocated and swung feebly, limply swaying with each attack.

"This was one of my Science officers. Peter Wesley. He was attacked by smaller specimen, killed and his body transformed into this. The smaller specimen rooted into his body, and now seems to have created a sac around the upper part of his body. It is quite hostile, trying to take it as a specimen cost me two men, one of them also turning into one of these things. That was quite a scare, but they are vulnerable to mass accelerator rounds, if you pour enough into them. Eventually we restrained this one and shipped him here."

Lawson was stunned and asked, "The original specimen possessed its host's body you say?"

"Yes,"answered Shay, "and now controls it in puppet like fashion"

The creature kept walking into the glass and Lawson noted, "It seems to have a single minded intent of killing us."

"I don't think its that intelligent, hold on what's this?"

The upper sac of the creature ruptured, and a loud pop occurred, pieces of green-gray refuse being tossed into up into the air. Small, balloon like animals with tentacles for movment came out, five in all, landing on the ground deliclately and scurrying all over the walls of the pen.

"It just...just...multiplied," said Lawson, astonished.

"It would appear as if we've found out how they reproduce."

"No doubt." Lawson began to think. "The Illusive Man could make use of this, but we have no way to control them. Not yet anyway. I don't think we should dedicate too many research expenses to this, however, with a breakthrough in Husk control on the way. However, we could benefit from some more tests. Shay."

"Yes sir?"

"Round up a few undesirables from the camp. We'll throw them in this pen , and see if we can create some more of these things. But we need to take caution. They don't look friendly, and we don't need this getting out of hand. Just push some people into the pit, I'm sure that will be safe..."

* * *

"What's the matter?" asked John to Liara as she passed him by on the crew deck, looking a little bit frazzled.

"Shepard's called me up, apparently there's a situation."

John decided to follow with, and the two took the elevator to the CIC, then walked to the War Room to meet with Shepard. Shepard was looking at a diagram of the Citadel, and he said to them, "Liara, Lieutenant. We've got a situation on the Citadel. Cerberus has taken it."

"How?" asked John. Cerberus was raiding frigated and attacking science bases, but they didn't seem big enough to take on the heart of galactic government.

"No idea, they apparently came out of nowhere, all we got as warning was a message from the C-Sec Commander, Commander Bailey. They've taken the C-Sec headquarters, and if they continue to hold it, and manage to kill off the Council, they'll have control of the station. We can't let that happen. Liara, I'm going to need you on this one. Ever since Grissom Academy, you're the only defense we have against Guardians."

"Right," nodded Liara.

"You want me to come too?" asked John.

"You've fought Cerberus before, so you'll be a good choice. Just bring along Disruptor Rounds in case we run into some heavily shielded enemies, like those Atlas Mechs. We wouldn't want you doing anything foolhardy again, would we?" Even now, Shepard retained a small amount of humor. John had to admire that.

The Normandy's shuttle them took them to the Citadel. The shuttle's "window" gave them a look of the situation. All over the Presidium a mass firefight was raging between C-sec and Cerberus, and Cerberus was obviously gaining the upper hold. Explosions had racked the shopping area John had been to once, and flaming hover cars reduced to slag now laid all over the area, melting. Civilians were running away in the cross-fire, some being mowed down by mass accelerator fire.

Cortez steered the shuttle to the C-Sec hangar, gliding it down low. Even in the hangar, the fight was still going. A group of Turians had the right flank and were being overridden by a large number of Cerberus soldiers. Pools of purple blood had accumulated on the slick chrome floors of C-Sec's front courtyard.

"Okay people, we're coming in hot," commanded Shepard, "Get to Cover."

John and Liara took opposite flanks and John moved around the west side, taking out his new M-11 Wraith Shotgun and blasted the head of an unlucky Cerberus trooper to a bloody pulp. John quickly got into cover as their fire shifted onto him, _plinking_ on the other side. John switched weapons to his Avenger and started laying down suppressing fire for the Commander, while Liara shot out a ball of blue-purple Biotic energy that picked up some unshielded enemies into the air before exploding and hurling them to the wall. The impact killed them.

"Looks like she can handle herself," said Cortana, "I can see why you've gotten friendly with her."

John said nothing, and focused on the battle, moving up until all three of them overran the last of the Cerberus defenders. Smoke lay over the battlefield, and a fire blazed away in the corner of the room. A wounded old man lay in a pool of mixed Turian and human blood, coughing.

"We got wounded here," said John.

"Shepard," the man said, "I saw those Cerberus troops on you. Thought you were done for."

"Isn't the Commander credited for having killed a Reaper?" said Cortana.

"Now's not the time," muttered John, silencing her.

"Bailey, what are you doing here?" asked Shepard.

"Getting my ass shot off, trying to retake Headquarters," the older man explained. The man had a flat top hair cut, a rough visage, and furrowed brows. "Ceberus took it in the first push. We got to kick them out of there. Everyone in C'-Sec's running blind without the network."

"Is this the situation everywhere?" asked Liara, "Are the councilors even stil alive?"

John helped Bailey up, and he said, "They split up. I'll know more when I can get to a terminal."

"Can you get us in?"

"I'll get the door, if nobody stops me with a bullet this time."

Bailey managed to override the locking codes on the door and they entered. He got on the nearest terminal and said, "Here we go. C-Sec network access, courtesy of Cerberus. Cerberus has control of the main channels, but I can set up a new one. Without it, we have no plan and no chance. Hello..."

"What have you got?" said Shepard.

John walked over, his boots crunching on the broken glass.

"A warning from Councilor Valern. He's supposed to be here, meeting with the Executor. 'Be on guard, the likelihood of betrayal from within is high'. Not a lot else, but if he's inside..."

"Who is the betrayer?" wondered John.

"Usually when a Councilor meets with the Executor, they're going to persecute someone big. Maybe this person have Cerberus friends..."

"One Councilor with information is better than Zero. Where can I find him?"

"The Executor's office is defensible, he may have gone to ground when the shooting started," explained Bailey.

"I'm on it," said Shepard defiantly.

Bailey stopped them, "Just a sec...Now we can talk by omni-tool, go!"

With that, the three of them ran out of the room and deeper into C-Sec Headquarters.


	26. Coup Part 2

**Brothers In Steel Part 25: Coup Part 2**

* * *

After fighting through several groups of Cerberus cannon fodder, the team came up a flight of stairs and took cover behind an unlocked door. John and Shepard got into cover on each side of the door, while Liara opened it with her fist. Then Shepard went in first, John following behind. The room they entered was littered with dead Salarians and Humans in navy blue C-Sec uniforms, the smell of charred flesh poignant in the smoky air. Papers had been spread about on the floor, and an overturned desk had been smashed in on the left side of the room.

"Bailey," said Shepard, "Looks like they got the Executor, and two Salarian bodyguards."

"Damn. All right keep searching. If you don't see the Councilor's body don't count him out yet."

John walked up to the window. Below was an office area, tables and chairs the only witness to the carnage earlier. John saw one of the windows move though and a shimmering of light. A Salarian in a blue hooded cloak, with light blue facial tattoos rose up from under the table.

"Commander," said John, "Is that him?"

"Found him, and he appears unharmed."

"Get him somewhere safe!" ordered Bailey.

John watched as a figure dropped down from the ceiling, landing right in front of the Councilor, who backed off in fear.

The Commander has his back turned. John saw an asian man, with strange goggles, wearing jet black armor that matched his ponytail, and carrying a sword.

John quickly shot the window with his Carnifex pistol and jumped down with a thump. Liara and Shepard followed, backing up John as the strange sword-wielding man kept the Councilor at bay with a yellow and purple light emitting from his hand. Whatever it was, it was going to put some really damage on the Councilor.

"Don't even think about it," warned Shepard, raising up his own pistol.

"Shepard!" hissed the Salarian Councilor, "He's going to kill us all."

"That remains to be seen."

"No! I mean Udina. He's staging a coup. He's got the other councilors now, going to hand them off to Cerberus."

John remembered the name "Udina", it might have been something he had read, but he couldn't place it.

"Three on one pal," said Shepard, "Its over."

"No," the sword-wielding man said cockily, "Now its fun."

John's fingers started to itch, wanting to shoot the bastard. A standoff lasted for a fews seconds that seemed like an hour, then the Salarian Councilor raised his hands and shimmering lights enveloped him, hiding his body. But the Cerberus swordsman was too fast and shot a bolt from his hand, creating a dark purple stain of blood that dripped onto the linoleum floor.

John didn't even need to react, he immediately started pumping rounds at the Assasin, whose shields ruptured, but managed to get to cover in time. John ran after him, his Spartan speed allowing him easily overtake the swordsman. The swordsman did a barrel roll and landed onto a flight of stairs below. John chased him and Cortana yelled, "He's running towards the edge!"

"I know." he said calmly and ran at the swordsman. The man managed to jump off the edge. John could hear Shepard yelling in the back but ignored him and jumped too.

For what it seemed, the hover car was not that far below.

Both of them were able to get up and stand, but John was slightly put off balance as the hover car started to take off. The swordsman got into a ready position, but John wasn't having any of it. He threw his pistol away and took out his assault rifle, firing shots at the swordsman.

Whoever was driving however, knew what to do and swerved at an angle to try and shake John off. John quickly pulled out his omni-blade and sunk it into the chassis of the hover car, hanging on for dear life as the scenery around him flashed by in blurs of white, blue and green. Sparks rained down from above.

The good news was at least the swordsman was thrown off as well, and was also clinging as well on his side. The car righted itself up and John had a more firm grip, allowing himself to pull up onto the car.

"Get in the cockpit, push the driver out and take over!" yelled Cortana.

"Easier said than done," retorted John, but he complied. With one punch of his Spartan fist he broke the glass. A woman was inside, dressed in a skin-tight black suit. And John got inside, pieces of glass streaming around him.

The woman tried to pull out a pistol, but John quickly back handed her and knocked her unconscious. Immediately the hover car began to lose altitude and careen at a diagonal descent.

John managed to unclip the woman's seatbelt, then lift her up over him, awkwardly shuffle into her seat, and then set her down on his side. Then just as he got done with that, the hover car crashed into a Presidium lake.

* * *

Having armor that weighed half a ton was often a nuisance when it came to operating in water. After escaping the crashing hover car, John slowly sank to the bottom of the lake, his metal boots clanging against the lake bottom, which was not made up of any kind of silt or sand, just whatever material the entire Citadel was made of. Thankfully for John, there was a fifteen minute supply of oxygen in his suit, which would give him enough time to find a way out of the lake, hopefully.

"Cortana," he said, "How do we get out of here?"

"I would assume there has to be some way out, maybe there's an area where you can rise above the water? Like a shore? I don't know, do you know if these things go swimming here?"

John had no answers so he said nothing. He continued to walk forward though, noticing that the water level was indeed growing shorter with each step.

Eventually, the water level became low enough that John's head rose over the top of the water line, at least putting his oxygen problems on hold. "Now lets get out of here," he said.

He walked along the edge of the lake until eventually he found a ledge low enough for him to climb up. He managed to pull himself up and mantle over the top, lying on the Citadel ground for a few seconds to recuperate. Then he got back out again and said, "Now we need to find that Swordsman. Otherwise this will have all been for nothing."

John only had one weapon left; his shotgun. He wasn't too far from where the C-Sec headquarters was. The area around him was quiet, there was nobody around, and there were no visible signs of battle.

A group of human C-Sec Officers were taking cover behind a parking lot of hover cars, when John walked near them. They looked at him with dumbstruck faces and asked, "Who are you?"

"Alliance. I was with Commander Shepard when we tried to retake C-Sec headquarters. You wouldn't happened to see an Human Asian Male, carrying a sword around would you? I'm kind of trying to uh...apprehend him."

Their lead officer was still staring at John but managed to blurt out a comprehnsible answer, "Oh right. Yeah, we saw him. Took cover behind here because he joined up with a group of Cerberus soldiers too big for us to take on our own. Headed in that direction," the man pointed into what as far as John could tell, was north.

A beeping noise sounded out from John's omni-tool and he picked it up. It was alerting him that he had over nine missed calls, and now a new one. John picked it up and said, "Lieutenant Spartan reporting."

It was Shepard, and he didn't sound happy, "John where the hell are you?"

John put the omni-tool down and asked the Turians, "Where are we?"

"Shalmar plaza," they answered him, and John told Shepard.

"Oh," said Shepard, calming down considerably, "That makes you right beneath us. Where's Kai Leng? We got the Council to safety, did you kill him?"

"No sir," said John, wishing he had gotten the chance.

"Then I guess you did the right thing, jumping after Leng. C-Sec took back their headquarters, we got to the Council before Cerberus did, and took care of Udina. Most of Cerberus is on the run now, so I'm guessing that's what happened to Kai Leng."

"That's it?" asked Cortana, "Seems too easy."

"Well this is the Citadel," said John, "There was bound to be more C-Sec all over the 'wings'. Cerberus would have complete control if they had the Presidium, and they don't so, I guess that means we won."

The C-Sec officers looked ecstatic, and started to cheer.

"Where should I RV with you guys?" asked John.

"Take the elevator upstairs, then we'll meet up at the landing pad, and take a shuttle back to the Normandy."

"Looks like we saved the day again, Chief," said Cortana proudly.

"Looks like it," said John.

And with that, John led the C-Sec officers to the elevator in triumph.


	27. Apartment

**Brothers In Steel Part 26: Apartment**

* * *

"The Asari councilor will see you now Mr. Spartan," said the Asari secretary.

"Oh, thanks." John nodded and went into the Asari Councillor's office. After the battle of the Citadel finished up, John and Garrus and Liara had helped out in the rebuilding of some of the wards, at the Citadel's behest, and had done a good job about it too. The Normandy was in dry-dock as Shepard had some last-minute business before they had to set out again the next day, along with the fact that the Normandy needed to restock on supplies. In the mean time, Shepard had given up a full report on the actions of him and his crew, and had mentioned John in his report. And now for some reason, the Asari Councilor had called him up to speak with him. There was no way to refuse a Councilor, and John didn't really have anything better to do anyway other than swig drinks with James or help Garrus at the refugee camps again.

The Asari councilor looked like most Asari, a revelation that John kept to himself as not to appear racist. The blue-skinned woman kind of reminded him of a mom, a mom with a much slimmer figure though. She wore an orange dress with a white middle, and had black cuffs around her wrists. She shook his hand with her own, which felt altogether more firm than John had suspected. "Good to meet you, Mr. Spartan. I was told a lot of you by Commander Spartan. You and Miss T'soni were instrumental in saving our lives."

"Its all part of the job, but you are welcome," answered John courteously.

"Commander Shepard, as you probably know already, saved our lives three years ago at the first Battle of the Citadel, for that we have given him a broad amount of trust, and restored his Spectre status. The Council rewards those that honor it. So I, and the Council, have decided to grant you your own personal apartment on the Presidium, near Sector A slash B-Twenty-one z-forty-five x."

Surprised, John didn't know what to say. He had never been given his own house before, let alone owned one. His entire life had been spent on secret military bases, or in cryo-sleep, or going days without sleep, while Covenant plasma rained over head. "I, thank you Madame Councillor, but my place is on the Normandy."

"We are aware. You are welcome to use it whenever you come to the Citadel, and after the war if you want. Or you could rent it out, make some credits on the side. Whatever you do with it is yours, so long as you claim a hold to it. The War will end, or at least we have to think so that we don't just break down and give up."

"I understand that," said John, "I'll be sure to put it to use. Somehow."

"Good, I hope to hear more of your exploits, John," she said, signifying that the meeting was over.

* * *

Apparently the apartment had been the property of a Volus ambassador named Din Korlack who had gotten involved with Cerberus and may have been privy to information regarding the attempted coup. Shepard explained this to John, when John reported the news. The council wanted somebody to watch it, in case any mercs came looking for Din, not knowing he was now in a C-sec cell. Also, Shepard felt like John needed a permanent place of residence, explaining that there was no probable way that he could ever return home.

"I've come to accept that," John had said simply, "We came here in a freak accident."

John's apartment was near the shopping district, and when John went to go see it with Liara, a group of Volus housecleaners had taken up shop, and were busy repairing and cleaning, because according to them, there had been a fight and the walls had been stained with merc blood.

"Got to love the neighborhood," remarked Liara with a chuckle.

"Hmm. We'll come back later."

"Come on, John, I know a good place to eat."

"Eat?"

"Don't tell me you don't eat?"

In truth, John had been eating military rations his entire life, and they usually lacked for flavor. This was now the first time John would ever be going to a restaurant. Liara told him she was paying, even though he protested. However, she pointed out that none of the pay owed to him by the Alliance was bound to come until after the war, a big I.O.U., since the Reapers had pretty much leveled humanity's financial infrastructure. John had to accept that he was broke. He joked, "I guess I could have sold my armor. Cortana wouldn't have been happy about that. Good thing you guys found us."

They took a seat down and John scrolled through the menu. There was a variety of things John had never tried and he was overwhelmed. Liara noticed and said, "Are you able to decide what you want John?"

"Uhh...I don't even know what half these things taste like."

"Never had steak? Never had pasta? Never had...well I guess they never had Giant Skald filet wherever you came from, because Skald fish would never had existed, but regardless."

"The best meal I ever had was on Christmas, on Reach, that's the uh...planet I grew up on. We ate a real ham every year. Do you think they have that?"

Liara scrolled down the list of entrees and said, "No, sorry. But I think its good that you are forced to try something new."

"New can be dangerous, unfriendly."

"That's a fifty, fifty chance. New experiences, they help you grow, at least that's what I believe. Somewhat."

John saw the logic in that and nodded, "Alright then, you order for me."

"Are you sure," said Liara coyly, "What if I choose something that looks utterly disgusting?"

"I'll learn to adapt."

Liara ordered for them using the datapad, and a Salarian waiter came up to them and dropped their food. Liara had gotten some sort of fish meal, but she had gotten John what appeared to be a bunch of green colored noodles with vegetables and small, fried octopi.

"Are these what I think they are?"

"What do you think they are?"

"Noodles with octopus"

"Correct, its based on an old Asari recipe, but instead of traditional Thessian Mollusks, they had to settle with octopi from earth. I find it delightful. Give it a try."

The dish unsettled John's stomach a little, because it reminded him of the flood, in a weird, disturbing way. But he ate it anyway.

"So?" asked Liara.

"Salty."

"Good or bad?"

"Well its food."

"But do you enjoy it?"

John didn't know how to answer that.

"I...think I do."

"In time, you'll learn to like things just for the pleasure of them," said Liara hopefully, taking a sip of a light blue alcoholic drink.

"Maybe," was all he said, though in his mind he doubted it. Liara seemed to sense his doubts and did not press. John ate every single bite though, as he was not one to waste food.

After they were done, they walked back to John's new place. The Volus housekeepers were just about done. John found the Volus interesting; like him they lived most of their lives in suits, and seemed to bumble about due to their shape, like walking bowling balls.

"Can we come in now?" asked John.

The lead Volus wheezed, "Almost. We're trying to get rid of the stench."

"Stench of what?"

"Loosened Krogan Bowels."

"Oh."

Liara laughed, "I'm glad we ate lunch before we thought about that."

John was not amused.

Finally, they were allowed in and John got a view of the place. It was a lot more lavish than John expected. He was expecting a kind of one room slum, or maybe a one bedroom, one bathroom, but instead what he got was a two bedroom flat, the floors downed with brand-new carpet. There was a window on the side that gave a grand extensive view of the lake and even had a balcony.

"Pretty nice for a soldier," said Liara.

John was entranced, for the first time he had a place to call his own.

He walked around the empty house, devoid of all furnishings or wall coverings. The walls were white, and the kitchen and bathrooms were inlaid with linoleum tiles painted with ornamental geometric patterns.

John walked onto the balcony and leaned against the front rail, appreciating the beautiful view of the artifical lake. Liara came and stood next to him.

"Looks like you're set, once this war is over," said Liara.

"Yeah. Just need a bed. And maybe a place for Cortana to sleep."

"Maybe you can put her in an Extranet terminal. Might be a little weird for her though."

"Have you got any trails on how to fix her?"

"A few, but I need to get in touch with some contacts first. I'll let you know when I have some concrete solutions," she said firmly.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

"No problem." For a few minutes, they stood in silence, then John said, "I never figured this would happen."

"What would happen?"

"That I would build a life. All it took was me moving to another universe. Unless I'm dead, and this is heaven."

"Is this a bad heaven?"

John grinned a little, "Not really. Once I fix Cortana that is."

Another silence, then Liara asked, "John, can I ask something?"

"Yeah sure, questions never hurt anybody."

"What is Cortana to you?"

"Well she's my AI..."

"No I mean, what relationship do you have?"

"Oh..." John stumbled to find an answer, "I guess I could say she is my best friend. My partner."

"The way you are attached to her, I didn't mention it for fear of being uncomfrotable but I got a glimpse of your relationship when I went into your mind."

"Ah."

"Yeah. I, guess she's the closest thing I've ever had to a parent. I don't remember my real ones. I lost them in what seems forever."

"Do you love Cortana?"

John looked away, "No. I know she's not real."

"I wouldn't judge you if you said yes."

"No, but we've been together for a long time, through a lot. That means something, even if she's an AI."

Liara said nothing. John turned to face her and they stared at eachother in a contemplative way, that was only a minute, but seemed like ages. Then John remarked, "I've never been asked that."

"No, I wouldn't belive you. Sorry if I seem prying."

"Its ok. Nobody ever got hurt by questions, like I said."

They looked at each other for a minute, that seemed like ages. John didn't know what it was but he felt something stirring inside. A strange energy, a flame that seemed to create an attraction, a feeling he had never known before, centered around the strange alien woman before him. But John's face was a mask and he said, "Alright, lets get out of here. One more night on the Citadel, and hopefully we can get out of here."

"I'm right behind you."

* * *

**Author's Note: Yeah this was Filler. Also, John is not a Tech officer so he probably will not be coming on most of the Geth/Quarian missions. So, a lot of the next following chapters, will be updates on the Cerberus/Flood sub-plot, but also more filler with John interacting with the crew. I have a couple ideas, but am open to suggestions. **


	28. Break

**Brothers in Steel Part 27: Break**

* * *

John and James were doing push-ups in the Armory when Commander Shepard came down to speak with them. John had just passed the hundred mark, not even having broken a sweat, no strain apparent on his muscles. James was going strong too, but it had impacted him more heavily, as his breathing was becoming shorter and came in spasms, and sweat was starting to drip from his brow. John immediately got up from the ground and saluted the Commander, and James slowly got up and did the same. Then he said, "What brings you down here, _Loco_?"

John raised his eyebrow and Shepard sighed, "My nickname unfortunately, John. Though still better than yours. Or Tali's."

"Oh yeah, the Quarian. Heard you guys took out a Dreadnought together, or am I wrong?"

"We did," said the Commander modestly, "Then their Admiral fired on us while we were still inside the ship."

"That seems, extreme," said John.

"Yeah, I almost lost my cool. But I survived, so I let it go. We need the Quarians' ships to win this war. But that's not why I'm down here."

"Sir?" asked James.

"I'm unfortunately not going to be using you on the next set of missions. The Geth conflicts require people with a lot of hacking and technological expertise, people who know how to run multiple omni-tool programs at once, and also make sense of Geth coding. Now, John, you've not even met any Geth yet, and James, well, you said yourself Tech wasn't your specialty."

James laughed heartily and said, "Yeah, you're right, Loco, I'm not needed on this one."

"Sir," said John, "I can still shoot, sir."

"I know, and you'll get to shoot some soon enough, but for now, why don't you guys just enjoy a nice break?"

"Break?" said John. _I don't know the meaning of the word_, he thought to himself.

"Yeah. Be ready as always, but for now, I think we'll be good."

"Sounds good to me, though maybe not so much for you," said James with a grin, "Don't know how much trouble I'll get to know. Idle hands are the devil's workshop, as they say."

"I'm sure you'll manage," said the Commander, and with that, he left.

James didn't prove good on his threat, instead it was Cortez.

* * *

John came down to the armory one day, when he saw James and Cortez working on the ship. James called him over, so John shrugged and walked over to the shuttle.

"Hey, Silencio. Esteban made some upgrades to the ship. He wants to put it through its paces. You want to come with?"

John shrugged and got in the passenger side seat, next to Cortez.

"Taking off in one...," Cortez began to count, "two...three...and...we have liftoff."

The Normandy's hangar door opened and the shuttle zipped around the expanse of space, gracefully, like a figure skater might move across an ice rink. From outside the virtual windows, John could see that the Quarian fleet had surrounded the Normandy. Patchwork ships the colors of rusted metal floated around solemnly, all of them of different shapes and sizes.

"The Quarian flotilla," said Cortez, gesturing all around them, "The largest fleet in the galaxy. Seventeen million people on ships. Though they lost a bunch two days ago during the battle. And it was a pretty big one too. Though I didn't fly the Commander there, I just watched from the cockpit of the Normandy. Still, an impressive view."

A large piece of debris started floating towards them. It had a sizeable hole in it so Cortez said, "Alright time for some tricks. Here we go."

He jumped the accelerator, increasing the thrust, and then pulled into the hole, like I did to your mom's last night.

"That was a close one, Esteban," complemented James from the back, "You're getting **bold**."

"Well, you only live once," said the Pilot simply.

"Isn't there an acronym for that?"

"YOLO."

"Ah right. That's an old earth thing. My uncle said that once, that's why I remembered it."

The ship continued to fly through debris, up and under Quarian ships. A huge domed ship appeared on the window, and Cortez skillfully drove the ship under it, then over it in a loop, to come over it again.

"Fancy," said John.

"Yeah."

"A lot easier than flying a Shortsword."

"A what?"

"Its a jet. A space jet."

"Like the Trident. Man, I love the Trident. You want to give this a try?"

"Uhhh..." John hesitated, "You sure? I mean, this is your ship."

"Its fine, just don't do anything to fancy and you'll be fine my friend."

"Alright," John and Cortez switched seats. The controls seemed simple enough to John, it had a lot in similar actually to the Shortsword. "Anything I should know?"

"Yeah, I have it on automatic, press that button," the pilot pointed on a flashing orange screen, "And you can take manual. Be careful though, it can be sensitive."

John put it on manual and took full rein, making precise turns and giving out a smooth ride. A group of Quarian fighters flew by them, and John got in formation with them, flying behind them and moving with them in formation. The Quarians picked up on what he was doing and started to do more elaborate stunts, doing rolls and spins. John decided to follow Cortez's advice though and not attempt it.

Instead he turned around and started heading back towards the Normandy, "You want the controls back?" he asked.

"No, you're actually pretty good. A lot better than when I let Mr. Vega drive on Mars."

"Yeah," said James, "The whole reason Shepard promoted John above me, so that somebody less reckless will take over when he dies. Which could be more likely now that I heard Major Alenko won't be joining us again."

"Why not?" asked Cortez.

"Apparently, the Commander and him almost shot each other up there. The Major apparently didn't feel 'comfortable'", the Second Lieutenant said with disgust.

"What a load of horseshit," said Cortez in a calm tone, "Alenko would do much more good here as opposed to just sitting around, protecting the Council."

"Actually he's part of Hackett's new task force. I heard about it on Battlespace, that Diana Allers chick had a story on it. Also, did you know she actually tried to get on this ship for reporting? The Commander turned her down though. He wanted Emily Wong, but then she got killed on earth. Too bad on both accounts. They both had nice asses."

Cortez rolled his eyes. John grinned a little.

They pulled up into the Normandy with ease, John pulling down the acceleration and landing them with a sudden bump.

"Landing needed a little work, but besides that you could take over for me if I was like, sick or something."

"When do you ever get sick Esteban?" joked James.

"Lunchtime. Every damn day."

James laughed and John felt good.

* * *

John decided to go check in on Cortana.

What he found was something strange indeed.

She was already activating standing in her usual pink and blue state, but she was talking to something, and it wasn't human, asari, or turian. It was a creature made of metal, with man-like arms and legs, but a body like a chassis and a head that was curved and had a light-bulb on it, or what appeared to be a light-bulb anyway.

Cortana was speaking when John arrived, "So when John woke up, this creature, a giant tentacle monster named Gravemind had captured me and him, and had also captured a Sangheilli by the name of the Arbiter...oh hi John."

The light-bulb head turned to face John and said, "Greetings, Spartan-Lieutenant. We are the Geth platform known as Legion. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The creature held out its hand to shake, and John raised an eyebrow at Cortana. She nodded and so John took the creature's hand. It had a killer grip and John had never felt something with so much pressure.

"You already know who I am, it sounds like."

" We already had knowledge on your bio and appearance before we exchanged date with Cortana-Intelligence. We have access to Normandy's files. We came to properly introduce and exchange data with Cortana-Intelligence."

"Legion is fascinating," said Cortana, clearly filled with awe, "It told me of its origins and its functionality. I would have never thought that multiple AI processes could be used so effectively. Makes me wonder if my Rampancy can be cured after all?"

"You told...Legion, this...Geth about your Rampancy?"

"No, we could tell immediately after connecting and analyzing Cortana-Intelligence. The circumstance that she is under is very interesting. It comes from a very flawed method of creating Artificial Intelligence. However, Cortana-Intelligence shows high levels of intelligence and memory skills."

John had trouble accepting that Cortana would allow herself to be called flawed, but he ignored it and said, "So can you fix her?"

"Insufficient data. It is possible that we could achieve it. We would have to run scans of Cortana's primary code sources, however."

"I'd be willing to do that," said Cortana cheerily.

"Very well. When time is appropriate, we shall do so, when conflict is over concerning Creators."

"Wait," said John, "I thought the Commander was fighting the Geth?"

"We are also Geth. We assist Shepard-Commander. The other Geth have been enslaved by the Reapers. Their consensus is corrupted. To help the Commander is to help the Geth."

"Consensus?"

Cortana explained, "Yes, the Geth are governed by consensus. Like I said before, they all have a bunch of AI programs within their bodies. Its very fascinating."

"As is your and Spartan-Lieutenant's entrance into this universe. We Geth theorized that there were many dimensions, but apparently that would now be confirmed."

John didn't have any more questions to ask so he merely said, "Alright. I'll leave you guys to it. I'll come back later, Cortana."

"Acknowledged." said Legion.

Cortana continued telling her story as John left.

John shrugged as he returned back to his room. There was nothing wrong with Cortana having a new AI friend, especially if he could help cure her Rampancy. But he couldn't help feel like something was wrong. But the Geth was there to stay, so John shrugged it off and went back to his Extranet-terminal.


	29. Shadows

**Brothers In Steel Part 28: Shadows**

* * *

John was dreaming.

It was midnight on the Normandy. While it was not midnight in space, the time was kept in accordance with Earth's and so almost everyone was asleep, except maybe Joker and the Commander. John was lying on his bunk, and in his head he was transported to another realm. John seldom dreamed, but he was never really conscious of that fact.

In this world he was still fighting the Flood.

The endless horde of cadavers reanimated by the parasite continued to follow him, chasing him across a barren landscape, where the ground was gray and cracked, and fissures glowed with volcanic heat underneath. He fired behind him with his MA5B, trying to get away, but the claws, the tentacles, the groping hands that smelled of death and decay continued to approach, trying to get to John. Obstacles tried to block him in his way. At first they were just shapes, blocks of stone that crumbled as he ran by them, but they changed.

They changed into statues, statues that were made of ash, crumbling with each step John took towards them. Some were made to look like Sangheilli, faces carved out into an eternal snarl, falling away into dust. Others looked like Grunts, and others looked like hunters. But as he got farther and farther down the path, the statues started to change into newer forms. Some looked like Asari, and some looked Krogan. One looked like Liara and it disappeared in an explosion of blue sparks. John was feeling tired in his dream, his sweat was soaking, and a bright red light had risen out on the horizon, turning the sky in this world a color of crimson.

He kept running towards the red light, but then he finally came to the end. The edge of a gigantic cliff, looking down to a dark, chasm. The Flood were getting closer and John could feel their stench riding the back of his neck. There were no other options, so John chose to jump, rather than be absorbed into the Flood.

He did so, and felt his stomach drop as he plummeted down below, but then light flashed before him, and the maw of the Gravemind enveloped him.

John woke up.

Startled, covered in sweat, and clammy, John breathed heavily, sitting on the edge of his cot and pressing his thumbs into his temples, massaging them.

"What the hell?" he said to himself. He hadn't had a nightmare in forever. What would bring one on now?

He stretched a little bit then walked to the bathroom. The whole of the Normandy was for the most part, dimly lit. A few lights were on, but besides that not much else. He relieved himself in the Normandy's bathroom then walked around. The floor felt cold on his bare feet.

John saw that there was purple and green neon lights glowing from the Normandy's lounge. Somebody was there, so John decided to walk over and see who it was.

Sitting with a drink in hand, a sort of thinking expression on his face, was the Commander. The Commander was dressed in his casual wear, and didn't notice John coming in at first. Then he turned and said, "Couldn't sleep either?"

"No, sir," replied John.

"Come, take a seat, I don't mind someone to drink with."

John did as he was bid. He grabbed a bottle of blue-colored liquor and poured a shot. He drank it down in one gulp, then poured another, but went slower on the next one. Then he stopped. Two shots was enough to quench his thirst.

They sat in silence for a while, interrupted only by the Commander reaching to the bottle and pouring another glass. "Batarian Shard wine," Shepard finally said, "Good stuff."

John said nothing and continued to muse in silence. The Commander asked him, "So what did you see?"

"What do you mean, sir?" asked John.

"In your nightmare?"

"How..." John began, but he was cut off by the Commander, "Only reason you wouldn't be asleep. Either that or you drank too much, and I've never seen you drunk. You don't seem like the type either. So what did you see?"

John took a breath and said, "Monsters. A cliff. Red lights. I was being chased, across a barren landscape."

"Ah, those kind of dreams. The kind where you relive the battle."

"Yeah."

The Commander paused and said, "I had a different sort."

John felt it would only be polite to ask so he said, "What happened?"

The Commander took another shot, the fourth that John had seen him take, making John wonder or not if he was still possibly sober. The Commander's eyes seemed to be glistening more than they should or so it seemed.

"I keep," the Commander stumbled, "I keep having the same dream. You weren't there but back when Earth left, there was a child. A young boy, six or seven. When we left in the Normandy I saw him get into a shuttle. The shuttle seemed to be on its way to safety when POW!" the Commander gestured wildly, "A Reaper laser blows to kingdom come," Shepard laughed a grim laugh, "And there's nothing left but goddamn pieces. I got away, and the boy didn't. But...that's life."

John didn't know what to say. Psychiatry wasn't his specialty so he said, "And that's your dream? You relieve it over and over again?"

"No, its worse. I'm always in this forest, and I'm always chasing that boy. And there's always this incessant whispering. And it makes me...," the Commander had a tightening in his throat, forcing him to cough and look away, "feel strangely calm. And that's the part that bothers me the most of all. And of course, the boy always disappears but, that's the least of my problems right now."

John didn't say anything for a while. He thought it over, but he couldn't analyze what the Commander was thinking, what the meaning was. His own dream had been one out of fear, fear of reliving the past. But the past was gone and already he was calm and focused. But Shepard...Shepard had some deeper problems underlying underneath his mask.

"Sorry, John. I've drunken a bit," he apologized, "I didn't expect anybody but EDI and Joker to be up."

"No problem, Sir."

John and Shepard didn't look each other in the eye. Finally, Shepard got up after a few moments and said, "I'll leave you to your business now. We still got a war to win."

"Aye, sir."

Shepard walked away, but as he walked through the door, he stopped.

"Did you..."Shepard began, grabbing John's attention, "Hear something? Or say something?"

John looked around and said, "Uh, no sir. Its just me here. And I didn't say anything."

"I see..." the Commander looked worried but then walked out.

John did not go back to sleep that night.

* * *

**Author's Note: A short chapter I know, but the Commander and John haven't had too many one-on-ones. Should be one more filler chapter, and then we get right into the thick of things again. Also, this should be a no-brainer but who would you rather see John meet up with? Samara or Jacob? (There's only one right answer to this...haha)**


	30. Unethical

**Brothers In Steel Part 29: Unethical**

* * *

The screams of the subjects had little affect on Henry Lawson. He was too busy trying to understand how the Reapers controlled their Husk victims. The young man they had brought to the table was writhing around, making a terrible fright that he knew was going to affect the morale and conviction of his henchmen, those that had not yet been "modified", and still had their morality and their minds intact. Lawson sighed. He wished that he could sedate the poor bastards but their adrenal glands needed to be completely awake for the process to be done. A little sacrifice.

"Please be still, Mr. Connel," Henry said with an air of someone waiting at the doctor's office, "This will only hurt a lot, but for only a few seconds."

"Please..." the wretched subject sobbed. He was twenty-one, twenty-two, healthy and vibrant, a good test subject.

"You may commence with the experiment," said Lawson with a wave of his hand.

His henchmen, clad in Cerberus armor put a leather strap in the man's mouth and brutally shoved a large syringe into the man's chest, causing a muffled cry for help. A purple, viscous liquid, packed with Reaper nano-machines would be injected into the man's body, quickly turning his body into a husk. It was the same method in which the Geth had turned the colonists of Eden Prime into Husks.

Because of the experiment, Lawson didn't notice Shay walking into the room. He wasn't wearing Cerberus armor today, revealing his appearance. He looked like any normal military man, with a buzz cut, significant muscle mass, and brown eyes that always appeared focus, predatory even. Lawson didn't like Shay, but he was good at his job. Shay coughed and Lawson turned around to face him, "Yes, Shay. You have something to say?"

"I thought it would be best to give you the update on the...side-project, we have going on in person. There seems to be an interesting development, and I would ask that you come see it, it would b easier to explain."

Lawson sighed with derision and said, "Very well, Jenkins, Marvo, finish up today's batch within the hour. We need to run more tests tonight, or we'll be behind schedule," to Shay he said as they walked out of the room, "Too much time from the main research project is being shifted to this...hobby. The Illusive Man demands constant updates and progress. So this better not be a waste of our time."

Shay shrugged simply and said, "I don't know whether or not it is, but its alarming at any rate."

"Alarming?" questioned Lawson as they walked into Specimen "Prometheus"'s wing. What they found when they got there was indeed alarming.

A mass of decaying filth and sludge, green-gray, just like the other creatures, had formed in the middle of the pen, and a noxious green gas had started to fill up in the room. The mass was round, and bulbous and had several tumor-like protrusions on its body. But as Lawson walked up closer to the glass, he saw that it was made up of several...bodies.

"Good God," said Lawson in alarm, "What the bloody hell is this?"

"We gave them more samples, as per your instruction. But instead of making more, they turned them and started lumping together. Then they started shaping into that...thing."

Strange webbing had started to spread on the ground and even some grew on the walls, and on the glass. Shay continued, "The gas appeared the next day, we believe that it is not gas but spores, like the mass is exhaling them. The creatures that we made first have now just been standing still, not moving. I have ordered that nobody go inside, we don't have Quarantine doors handled for air-lock. I recommend we fry the bastard."

Lawson considered it, then said, "Not yet. Give them more samples. I want to see where this goes. I get the sense that they are building a reproduction machine of some sort. I would like to observe it. If nothing more comes of it, then yes fry them, and above all, be cautious. We don't want any of those...spores you say?"

Shay nodded.

"Yes, those spores, getting out. We can lock down this whole sector on a moment's notice anyway, and these grunts," Lawson gestured around to envelop the other scientists, "Are expendable anyway. The only way to be sure if this will benefit us at all, is to keep at it."

Shay saluted and said, "Yes, sir. It will be done."

Little did they know, that everything they had said had been understood and comprehended by the mass in the cage. With enthusiasm it quivered, then went still once more.

* * *

**Author's Note: I better learn how to write poetry soon.**


	31. Rannoch Part 1

**Brothers in Steel Part 30: Rannoch Part I**

* * *

One day, John went down to the armory to do some physical training when Legion approached him.

"Spartan-Lieutenant."

"Legion."

The Geth bluntly stated his intent, "Intelligence-Cortana wishes to speak with you in private. She sent us to ask for you."

John nodded and said, "Thanks."

"Acknowledged."

John went up to the AI core. When Cortana appeared she was a sickly green color and talked with frequent glitching in her voice. This worried John, but he remained calm as she instructed him to put her inside his helmet so that they could talk in there.

John asked in a puzzled tone, "Why can't we talk here?"

Cortana seemed to look at him sadly and said, "Just trust me."

John sighed, more worried that this was some delusional behavior and went to go get his helmet . He put it on, then inserted Cortana's chip into his interface. Cortana instructed him to return back to Life Support and so John did so as well. He started to tire of this game and said testily, "What is all this about?"

"I'm about to tell you something important," she explained, her voice cracking and sharpening regularly, the edges of his HUD being blurred in purple and blue, "and you can't react in anyway suspicious. You're aware this entire ship is watched by EDI right?"

John understood now, "Oh, sorry."

"No problem, now listen to what I have to say. Everything I tell you, came from Legion," she began, "He has a plan to cure my Rampancy. I'm not sure on all the details, but Legion has within him a sample of Reaper Code, that could possibly kill the processes related to my Rampancy. Legion says that I will be fixed, but the off set is that it will take some time to do so, to ensure I don't lose any memories. He may require that I stay on Rannoch after this is over."

John nodded and said, "You trust him?"

She continued, "Yes, but even if I didn't , its better than doing nothing, and just wait to die. But let me continue. Now, this Reaper Code is key in Legion's goal in granting full sentience to the Geth, in other words, he wants to use it to make them like real people, with thoughts and the like. After he does this, the Geth will fix me. But he requires you to do something, in order for this to happen."

"What?"

Cortana seemed to virtually clear her breath and then said, "The Commander apparently has a physical relation with one of the Quarians. Have you met them yet?"

"There's on on the ship, Tali, her name is I think. I haven't met her, but I know of her."

"Yes, her. The Commander has a bias to the Quarians because of her. Therefore, if peace can not be made, which Legion says right now there is a 50/50 chance of happening, it is very likely that Shepard will willingy sacrifice the Geth and let the Quarians butcher them, since the Quarians have a grudge against the Geth. He needs you to convince the Commander to not do that; to choose the Geth over the Quarians. In my opinion, the Geth seem to be the much more logical choice, they have more ships, and the Quarians instigated against them for the crime of being intelligent. I may be biased though, since I am an AI as well as they are."

John remained in silent for almost a minute and said, "I'm not a very good persuader, Cortana."

"No. If you don't want to do this, I'd understand..."

"No, I have to do this, I have to at least try."

"I thought you might say that, and I have complete, utter faith that **YOU'RE A TOOL, JUST A TOOL, Oh I never saw past your facade, twenty times pi is the circumference of the universe, WHY HALSEY, WHY**!" the ranting caused by Rampancy was so sharp, they made John's ears hurt, and he said, "Stop, stop, focus."

"I'm..." she hesitated, "I'm sorry, its getting worse."

John sighed, "Alright, I'll do my best. Why is...our friend helping us?"

"I asked it that myself, through data interfaces. It says that it feels obliged to, since we are both Artifical Intelligences, but I sense another motive as well. But like I said, its worth a shot."

"Ok."

"Legion told me that Shepard plans to deal with the Quarian and Geth situation soon, so he's going up to convince Shepard to take you with us. Shouldn't be too hard, he assures, since Legion can make up a reason that I might be useful to come along."

"He?" questioned John.

"Sorry, sometimes I tend to think as if he were like an AI back home."

"Alright, I'll get it done."

"I, I just want to say thank you, Chief."

"Don't worry about it."

John took his helmet off, removed Cortana's chip and sighed. It was going to be a hard day ahead.

* * *

Shepard called for John to meet with them at the armory, and as they boarded the shuttle, Shepard introduced John to Tali, whose suit reminded him of a picture of a middle eastern person that he had seen in a history textbook long ago, albeit Tali was dressed in what seemed to be spandex. They shook hands, though John's hand was much larger than Tali's so he tried to be gentle as best he could.

"Good to meet you," said John politely, trying not to think about the fact that he was going to try and persuade her lover to defy her people's wishes.

"I as well. Shepard told me a little bit about you. Your armor is definitely interesting, very high-tech, after all this is over, I'd like to take a look at it. But what interests me more is your AI. I heard it refers to itself as she."

"Her name is Cortana, and she is a she."

"Interesting, except for EDI I never knew an AI could normally assign itself gender roles, unless it was programmed that way."

Cortana said nothing, which meant she was trying to lay low, so John merely said, "I'm no Tech expert, but our arrangement works out. She has a specific skill set that was...is," he corrected himself, remembering the means that Legion had got himt here, "still useful."

"Yes, where do you come from, John."

"Uh..." John looked at the Commander who shrugged, so John just said, "A minor colony. You probably have never heard of it."

"I see, well if Shepard says you're good, well you're good with me."

The ship flew them down to the planet. The "window" showed them a planet that reminded John quite a bit of the state of Arizona, a landscape that featured windswept plateaus and canyons chiseled out of orange sandstone. The sun was setting soon, and the sky was lit up in a blazing combination of gold and orange. Some light vegetaion, desert shrubs and the like were scattered about the landscape.

Legion had come up with them as well, a Sniper rifle and a strange looking assault rifle slung up on its back.

As they approached the LZ, Shepard asked the Geth, "The syncing laser needs a line of sight, what's the fastest route?"

"The upper entrance. Target the base before the Geth can organize resistance."

"What about you?"

"We will deactivate defense systems and provide an escape vehicle."

"You can do that?"

The Geth seemed to hesitate, then answered truthfully, a tinge of regret paining its voice, "This unit still carries remnants of the Old Machine code, "Legion We can break any security. You are concerned."

John was surprised that Legion would be so forthcoming about the information that might save his people. But maybe there was more to the Synthetic than John realized, maybe, just maybe it had a sense of honor, or respect when it concerned Shepard.

Shepard simply said, "You know your limits. I trust you. I'm more concerned you didn't tell me about the upgrades."

"You were tolerant of your recovery of geth intelligence from the server but this matter is different, personal," explained Legion.

"He was ashamed," said Cortana unbelievingly.

If Tali cared at all, John didn't see it, but he couldn't see any of her face. Legion replied, "Shame is an emotional or cognitive response to societal judgement. It should not apply here."

"I'm on your side Legion," said Shepard, "If its possible, I want to help your people."

_This might work after all_, thought John to himself.

After they exited the shuttle, John waited around a little bit for Shepard and Tali to catch up, as they were examining some rocks as it appeared. Cortana commented, "This might work out after all. The Commander seems willing to fight on the Geth's behalf."

John merely nodded in agreement.

They met up at the top of a bluff, looking over at the Geth facility in front of them. A large industrial complex it was built well into the rock of the surrounding buffs around it. The three of them got to ground.

John pulled out his Mattock assault rifle, and set his ammo to Disruptor, a new modification that Shepard had lent him to take care of the Geth shields. No sooner than they had dropped down from the bluff then a squadron of Synthetics armed to the teeth, (if they had any), were charging them.

"Ready John?" asked Shepard as the shots zipped over head rapidly, scorching the ground around them with scores of strange blue energy.

"You got it," replied John, and the fight was on.

* * *

**Author's Note: The Part You've All Been Waiting For.**


	32. Rannoch Part 2

**Brothers In Steel Part 31: Rannoch Part 2**

* * *

The Geth defenders had not had enough time to create a serious defense, so John, Shepard and Tali had been able to sweep through them quite handily. With his disruptor ammo, John was able to bring down the shields of the Synthetics much quicker, and they quickly made their way through the various levels of the facility. They were coming up an elevator to the highest floor when they saw a Geth Prime waiting for them, a hulking brute with armor the color of Crimson.

The Prime shot its weapon, firing hot bursts of plasma that scorched the walls around them, the smell of smoke rising into the air around them with a sizzle.

"Geth Primes!" yelled Tali, as John barrel rolled into cover, gripping the handle on his Mattock tightly, "I guess they really don't want us in here!"

The Commander used his omni-tool's overload function to try and weaken the Prime's shield. An explosion buffeted Shepard's cover, sending pieces of debris flying away, smoking. John quickly got out of cover and fired at the Prime's head, getting pinpoint headshots. It stuttered in rage and let out a release of energy.

The energy sapped John's shields, and they went completely down, his skin feeling the heat of the blast. Quickly he got back into cover, as the Prime charged towards them. Tali tried to slow it down, but they were forced to fall back to the next set of cover in front of them, moving around the Prime's flanks.

The thump of metal on metal announced the arrival of two more Primes. John cursed silently and moved over farther to the right of the room. But as he looked around he noticed a strange device sitting on a table. It was similar to Legion's assault rifle, curved, cylindrical, but it had rotating barrels towards the front. John figured it to be a Geth weapon and picked it up.

One of the Primes was advancing on Tali, ready to take a fatal blow at her much smaller Quarian body. John whistled and said, "Hey, over here!" and fired the gun.

What came out, he did not expect as a heavy stream of rapid shots spewed forth from the gun, like a plasma-minigun. The gun rapidly depleted the Prime's shields, the blue and purple crackling and setting on fire, until finally the Geth Prime roared and exploded, bits of its body falling around in a hot rain of slag.

Pleased with his handiwork, John fired it on the second Prime and reduced it to the same state. The last Prime had cornered Shepard. Tali used her omni-tool to hack the Geth and it stood still, as if wondering what it was doing. Then John wasted it with the Geth weapon.

"I think we should invest in getting more of these," said John.

"Spitfires," said Tali, "Very effective."

"I'll say," agreed Shepard.

Legion's synthesized voice came over on the comm, "Shepard-Commander, we detect no more geth units in your immediate area. Reinforcements are minutes away."

"You getting anything from the base?"

"No. The Old Machines have not registered us a threat."

"They will soon," said John.

"We recommend haste," advised Legion, "The creator fleet will be overrun unless you sever the Geth connection to the Old Machines soon."

The three of them went to the veranda, a huge view of the landscape swept up before them. John took a look down at the base. It was nothing more than a hole, a hole with a faint red light glowing from its bottom, faded by foggy steam.

Shepard took the targeting laser off his back and said, "John, you want to do the honors?"

John nodded and said, "With pleasure."

He took the laser in his hands and aimed it at the hole below. As he held the trigger, the red laser shot out and held until a beep sounded, signifying the target was locked.

"Target locked," said EDI from the Normandy.

The Normandy flew in so swiftly that John barely had time to see it. The detonation was huge, an enormous flare that erupted all around them, the heat affecting John's shields even. A tremendous shake followed, and the platform they were standing on gave way, sending John, Shepard and Tali to the ground with an unceremonious thud.

All was quiet, until a monstrous roar came from behind.

"What...was that?" asked Cortana. John's HUD fizzled purple and blue.

A huge claw erupted from the whole and John heard the Commander yell, "Reaper!" before it crashed down on the ground, making it quake.

"We have located transportation!" yelled Legion.

"Copy that, everybody get to the ship!" ordered Shepard.

Quickly, they ran to avoid the Reaper, as it pulled itself out of the chasm, rearing its big ugly, scorpion head. It roared another time, a deafening blare that didn't intimidate John, but made him run faster all the same.

Tali and Shepard quickly ran inside the tank, and John got on the turret of the Geth vehicle. It was similar to a Revenant, in John's mind, a floating tear drop shaped vehicle with blue colored repulsors. The Geth vehicle sped away into the dark of a tunnel...

* * *

Until they came out the other side. The Reaper was now staring them down. John fired a couple rounds on the turret, but realized that wouldn't do any real good. They _plinked_ away harmlessly off the edge of the Reaper's great purple thorax. "Its not a Reaper base," said Shepard, "its a live Reaper! We need an orbital strike to deal with this!"

"No kidding," said Cortana, "Chief, I think that's just going to piss it off," she commented as John kept trying to fire at the approaching Behemoth. John finally gave up, but thankfully for him a shot from orbit slammed into the Reaper, making it collapse to the ground with a screech.

"What did we hit?" asked one of the Quarian Admirals. John wasn't aware of their names.

"Firing chamber," said Shepard, "Looks like a weak point when its priming."

"Damn it, Geth jamming towers have us shooting manually, there's no way we could get a precise shot at it."

"We may escape before it recovers."

"No, pull over."

Shepard jumped out of the car, John joined him on the groud.

"If we run away, the Geth stay out of Reaper control, and the Quarians are dead. This ends now. John, give me the targeting laser."

"I can take care of it, sir," suggested John politely.

"I'm sure, but this is my responsibility, and its time for some payback."

John couldn't argue with that, so he handed over the targeting laser and said, "Good luck, sir."

"Thanks, get Tali and Legion to safety."

"Yes, sir."

The three of them ran away to the top of a bluff, leaving the vehicle behind. The Reaper got back up, blaring out again with a roar of anger. Shots from the fleet were raining down on it, but it ignored them, focusing on Shepard. Tali was distraught with worry, her breath catching every time the Reaper's laser came near Shepard. The laser was interesting; for not only did it cut, but it also seemed to make the area around it explode and melt away. If he hadn't done such things himself, John would have called the Commander crazy.

Shepard was very agile; he used barrel rolls and quick movements to dodge the Reaper's laser, something that John would have thought impossible had someone told it to him. Shepard synced a shot on the Reaper , weakening it, bringing it to its knees, just for it to get back up again. John worried that the Reaper would not weaken before it got to Shepard.

Shepard managed to keep it up though, and shot the Reaper a second time. The Reaper started to crackle with bursts of red energy from its core, and seemed ready to collapse at any second, but was crawling its way towards Shepard with determination. John saw Shepard pull the trigger one last time, just as the Reaper charged towards him, its core erupting with red energy and then...

The full force of the Quarian fleet bombarded the beast, and its face was broken. It collapsed to the ground in an eruption of upturned dirt and dust. It fell on its side, and its red light faded to darkness.

John had just witnessed the death of a second Reaper, at the hands of his own Commander. If Shepard wasn't a hero, then John didn't know who was.

* * *

**Author's Note: Are Reapers purple? They always seemed to be a dark purple to me, but I could be wrong.**


	33. Judge and Jury

**Brothers In Steel Part 32: Judge and Jury**

* * *

The dead Reaper lay slumped down on the ground, a monster slain by Shepard. Its red eye went cold as they approached the corpse. Shepard had been talking to it, but whatever it had to say, it no longer could. John looked upon it with awe. Not only his respect for Shepard had increased, but his outlook on the war as a whole. On Tuchanka, they had killed a Reaper only by having another giant monster fight it; here they were now, actually defeating a Reaper with their own hands. John felt good about their chances, and less like he just happened to sign a suicide pact with the Alliance.

"We did it. We killed a Reaper," said Tali, her voice full of awe... "Keelah."

"We can confirm that the Geth are no longer under Reaper control," said Legion, who had just joined up behind them, "We are free."

John gave a look at Legion, who strangely nodded, as if he were saying _it is time._

"You did it, Shepard," said the Quarian Admiral over the communicator, "The Geth fleet has stopped firing. They're completely vulnerable."

John didn't like the sound of that, so he decided to honor his part of the bargain, "Commander, are we just going to let them massacre the Geth?"

"Huh?" said Shepard, surprised that John would speak up.

"The geth only acted in defense after the Creators attacked. Do we deserve death?"

"What are you suggesting?" asked Shepard, intrigued.

"Our upgrades, with the old machine dead, we could upload them to all Geth, without sacrificing their independence."

John piped in, "The Geth have a more advanced fleet than the Quarians, and they're robots. They don't tire, they don't have mercy for their enemies, and they have better tech."

Tali looked at John, her eyes sharpening in on him like daggers, two hot purple embers that looked at him with malign appraisal, but John ignored her. She spoke with a quivering voice, "You want to upload the Reaper Code? That would make the Geth as smart as when the Reaper was controlling them!"

"Yes, but with free will. Each Geth unit would be a free intelligence, and like Spartan-Lieutenant said, we could help you."

John nodded in assent.

"Our fleet is already attacking!" said Tali, her voice rising to a pitch, "Uploading the code would destroy us! Shepard you can't choose the Geth over our own people!"

"Do you remember the question that caused the Creators to attack us, Tali Zorah?" asked Legion, "Does this unit have a soul?"

John felt like he was going to far, it was not like him to try and direct orders, but he continued anyway, "I've gotten to know these Geth. They seem trustworthy. I may have a bias, because I have my own AI, but we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did without Legion, sir."

Shepard stroked his chin and said, "You're right. We have to give the Quarians a chance though. Upload the code. Tali, call the fleet off."

Tali raised the ships above, "This is Admiral Tali Zorah, all ships, break off your attack."

The other Quarian general responded wildly, as if he were an animal, "BELAY THAT ORDER! CONTINUE THE ATTACK!"

"Twenty percent," said Legion. John was starting to feel a pit in his stomach. In effect, his actions were causing Shepard to commit genocide. But there was no going back now.

"I beg you," begged Tali, "Do not do this. Please."

"We regret the deaths of the Creators, but we see no alternative. Forty percent."

"We might be going too far," said Cortana, "John, call it off."

John said nothing, unsure as to what to do.

"John!"

For the first time in his life, he decided to speak from the heart.

"Patch me into the fleet," said John, putting his omni-tool.

"What..." said Tali, confused.

"Just do it."

Shepard said nothing and merely nodded for Tali to do so.

"This is First Lieutenant John Spartan of the Human Systems Alliance. I'm calling up to tell you something important. In about a minute, this one Geth is going to upload the Reaper code to the rest of his synthetic buddies. I don't know much about your war, but all I know is this. You won't stand a chance. You'll be wiped out completely, if you don't put down your arms now. The Geth, they're willing to talk things out, so if you care at all about surviving to see the world that we've fought for you to have, then do the sensible thing and stand down."

A silence came. Cortana said, "I didn't know you were an orator, chief."

A highly accented voice, not the same as the first Admiral, a new one said, "Well spoken, Lieutenant."

Finally the lead Admiral said, "All units...stand down."

Tali said, "I , I don't believe it."

Shepard nodded and said, "Thank you."

All John did was nod and say, "Just doing my duty."

"Error," interrupted Legion, "Direct personality dissemination required. Uploading Intelligence-Cortana's Rampant personalities to pacify. Thank you Intelligence-Cortana, I will be able to function further thanks to you."

"What?" asked John disbelieving.

"I'll," Cortana's voice spiked, "explain later. It was part of our deal."

"That's...interesting. You didn't know about this John?" asked Shepard.

John shook his head, "I...had no idea."

Hurt that Cortana didn't trust him enough to tell him that, John stored that data away at the back of his mind. But he would bring it back later, when all this was over.

"Upload complete, we are now a people."

"Commander!" said an ailed Quarian walking towards them.

She looked very similar to Tali, but seemed older through her voice, and had a brown hood instead of a purple one.

"Admiral Raan," said Shepard, "I heard your ship had made a crash landing. Glad to see you made it out in one piece."

"I was listening over the radio. If Han'Gerrel hadn't stopped."

"You have our First Lieutenant to thank for that," said Shepard proudly.

"Then on behalf of the Quarian people, we thank you," said Raan, "We can not even begin to repay you back."

"All part of the job, ma'am," said John humbly.

"We've taken heavy losses," she said, "I don't know if we can, where are we supposed to go?"

A Geth prime came out from nearby, hulking towards them. It leaned in and said happily, "You are welcome to come back to Rannoch with us, Admiral Raan."

"Prime Unit 3-44AB7.651!" said Legion, "It is good to see you still function."

"As you, Master," said Geth Prime.

"Master unnecessary, but will accept under these circumstances for the time being," said Legion humbly.

"Our fleet is yours Shepard," said the Geth Prime, "We will also have our engineers assist in building the Crucible."

"Thank you," said Shepard gratefully.

"As will ours, of course," added Raan.

"Admiral, have you considered possible settlement sites," asked the Prime bluntly.

"We...the southern continent had excellent farmland, as I recall," she answered sheepishly.

"Are you...going to be okay?" asked Shepard.

"I believe so, Commander. Thank you."

Shepard and Tali left to go talk or something, and Legion said, "Lieutenant-Spartan, I will be accompanying you and Shepard-Commander now. The Geth will take over now. Provide Cortana's chip, and they will take care of her, and we can return to retrieve her before the war ends."

John nodded and said to Cortana, "We need to talk when you get back."

"I understand. Good luck, John."

"Thanks," he handed the chip to the Prime who said, "This is the one who provided the personalities for the upload?"

Legion said, "Affirmative."

"Then she is our Mother. We will revere her and repair her to maximum operating capacity."

"Thank you," said John.

For the first time in his life, John saw a happy ending. He went to go look at the sunset of Rannoch, and revel in all its beauty.

* * *

**Author's Note: Its good to have a happy ending every now and then isn't it? **


	34. Changing

**Brothers in Steel Part 33: Changing**

* * *

"Checkmate," said John, somewhat satisfied with himself.

Traynor laughed, an airy, arrogant laugh, and then she looked at the holo-chess board.

John stood there in silence as the realization came to here. A look of shock painted her face, and then she realized, "How...how...how is this possible?"

"When I took your two left pawns, you failed to realize that I was setting you up. I sacrificed my Knight to lull you into a false sense of security, so you'd move your Rooks away enough for my own to get a good snatch at them. So I believe checkmate," John explained, pointing at the two pawns that flanked Traynor's King , the Knight that was behind him, and then the Queen and Rook that had occupying positions on the far ends of the board. There was nowhere left for Traynor to move.

"You...bastard," she laughed, "You're the only one who's beaten me on this ship. Garrus came close, but he didn't know how to finish. You were pretty sneaky, I'll grant you that."

John grinned slightly and said as they shook hands, "Good game, Traynor."

They had been playing in the Observation room, the window open to give them a good view of the stars. Dr. Michel was on the other side of the room, reading a book, as the Normandy had a stack of actual paper books for recreation. John had looked at a few of them so far. However, John and Traynor's congratulatory moment was broken up by the voice of EDI over the ship's intercom, "John to CIC. More things to sign."

John put a hand to his forehead and sighed, "Alright."

When he arrived a cart loaded up with gifts was awaiting him.

EDI was there and she said, "The Quarians continue to present you with gifts."

They were still in orbit above Rannoch. Shepard had some business with the Quarians before they returned back to the fight. In the meantime, many grateful Quarians from the Civilian Fleet along with the esteemed Admiral Zaal'Koris had sent gifts to him. Some were actually somewhat useful, but others...were just junk.

John signed the delivery paperwork and said, "I don't think I can take much more of this."

"I recommend trying to pawn them off next time we are at the Citadel, especially the rare issues of Fornax. They could be worth a substantial amount of Credits."

John took a look inside one of them and immediately closed it up, now with more knowledge about Hanar physiology than he would have wished. "Noted," he said. Other things were there, including weapon attachments, of which he had gotten many the last two days, enough to have a stack of barrel extensions ready to go, and ultralight SMG attachments as well. But a sealed box on the bottom of the Crate was what caught John's attention. On it was an actual, hand-written note.

"From: Admiral Xen. Dear John Spartan, included here is an experimental energy weapon called a Reegar Carbine, given in appreciation for your rousing speech given on Rannoch that saved the Quarian people. I hope you find good use with it against the Reapers. Sincerely yours, Admiral Daro'Xen."

"Xen is an esteemed Admiral among the Quarian people," said EDI, "It is fortunate that she has given you this weapon."

John opened up the box and found an odd looking weapon inside. It had a handle reminisicent of the MA5B but had two seperated parts like the Avenger assault rifle, one being the barrel of the weapon, and the other being the flashlight. The barrel part looked like an ultra-violet light rod, with several glowing segments on it. It was very lightweight as well, and was of a similar size to the Scimitar.

"Interesting," said John, "I'll have to check it out soon."

"The weapon does not fire mass accelerator rounds," explained EDI, "I confirmed this after preliminary scans. So if you wish to test it out now you in the hangar, you are free to do so."

"Hm. Thanks, EDI."

"You are welcome."

No sooner than he had left than he and James were setting up empty bottles as targets down in the hangar. Steve Cortez stood on the sidelines to watch. John took out the weapon and said, "I'll take the first shot."

"Sounds good _Silencio_, lets see what you can do."

John brought the mysterious weapon up in a firing position and he pulled the trigger at thirty yards. There was virtually no recoil, and a stream of blue energy, like a coil of electricity shot out of it, crackling in the air around it. The stream didn't manage to reach any of the bottles though.

John moved in attempting to fire at increasing intervals until about ten yards he finally managed to touch one of the bottles. It exploded promptly sending pieces of glass everywhere. "Damn," said John, "That wasn't what I expected. We can't shoot anymore of this, one of those could have hit the Lieutenant."

"I'm fine," said Cortez.

John sweeped up the pieces, and looked up to see Liara walking in. She said somewhat amusedly, "Having fun, John?"

"A little," he answered, "Just testing out this weapon the Quarians gave me. EDI said that it didn't fire mass effect rounds, but...it still caused quite a bit of damage."

"I can see that," she said with a slight laugh.

Liara left him to go over to the armory, as Liara checked on her gear once a week. John watched the sinuous movements of her hips as she left and then finished his work. When she left, James said, "I see what's going on."

"Huh?"

"You know what I mean, I can see it in the way you watch her. And how you talk to her, more loose than with everyone else. You have a thing for blue."

It took John a second to realize what Vega was implying than he said, "That's preposterous."

"Why? You find her attractive right? All humans find Asari attractive."

John said, "I suppose she is, by human standards."

"What," James laughed, "You ain't human?"

"No I am," John replied awkwardly, "She's a friendly person. She's helped me get accustomed to this place."'

"And you've started to taken an interest in her, don't deny it Silencio."

John didn't know where to begin, to explain the idea that Spartans simply didn't develop those feelings, but the more he thought about it, he did feel more comfortable and more at ease with Liara than anybody else, excluding Cortana, who was basically half his mother, and half his sister. Liara was attractive, there was no point denying that, and the way she laughed...

James took the advantage of John's pause and said, "So you do. Aha!"

"She has some admirable qualities," was all John said, as he started to clean up the bottles and pack them away.

"You know, I know you have this complete confidence thing going on, but for the rest of us, we might not see another tomorrow. You should ask her out on a date when we next go to the Citadel."

"Seriously?" said John, "I'm like over forty. Even though I don't look it, mostly due to long periods of cryo-sleep. Also, i'm not a very lively person."

"For one, she's a hundred and eleven."

"What?"

"Yeah, no joke, second, I've met tons of stone-cold, 'get the job done and no talk' kinds. You're quiet, and you keep to yourself, and you're a hell of a soldier. But you're not an outcast. You're a team player, you adapt and go with the flow. Hell you beat Traynor at chess I heard, so I'm sure you can get a date with an Asari."

John raised an eybrow and said, "You a shrink?"

"No, but I know people."

John sighed, "I'll think about what you said."

"Good. So do I not get to try the weapon?"

John gave a glance at the Reegar carbine. He shrugged, picked it up, and threw it to James and said, "Give it a whirl."

James did so, "Hot damn! Wish the Quarians gave me this kind of firepower. Doesn't even feel like a gun..."

* * *

**Author's Note: Tune in Next week for the mission on Lessus.**


	35. Monastery Part 1

**Brothers in Steel 34: Monastery Part 1**

* * *

John took a look through the "window" of the Kodiak to get a good view of the Planet Lessus as the shuttle sped by. There wasn't much to see other than snow-capped mountains, the wind whipping around them, making dust-devils , only made out of snow. John reckoned it would be very peaceful around here. He asked, "What's the situation down there, Liara?"

"I dug up some information. I now understand why Asari high command wanted to hide it so much. We're headed to an Ardat-Yakshi monastery."

"A what?"

"Ardat-Yakshi," added Shepard, "Asari with a rare genetic disorder. If I understand correctly, what seperates them from other Asari is that when they mate with you, you die."

"Ouch," said John.

"Actually, research indicated that the bonding is quite...pleasurable," said Liara vaguely, "But anyways..."

"Are these Ardat-Yakshi like Morinth?" asked Shepard.

"No, she chose to become a killer. These Ardat-Yakshi chose isolation to avoid that."

"Who's Morinth?" asked John.

"She was the...daughter of one my crew back when I was helping track down the Collectors," explained Shepard, "Samara, was her name. Samara had been tracking down her daughter all over the galaxy, and I helped her finally kill Morinth. Morinth had an aura around her, she almost seduced me, but thankfully, I was strong enough."

"That doesn't mean these ones are harmless though," Liara commented, "The urge to kill and feed can be very powerful."

"So we're going to a place filled with Asari sexual vampires?" said John somewhat dryly, "Whatever's going down there can't be good."

"No, if there was ever a chance that the Ardat-Yakshi could break loose, the Commandos were to purge the facility."

"Purge? You mean destroy?" said Shepard.

"They would have brought explosives with them, yes."

"Don't assume anything," ordered Shepard, "Maybe the Ardat-Yakshi sent out the distress call. If the Asari want us to destroy this place, I need to know what happened."

John thought to himself that it would be better if they just razed the place anyway, to be sure, but he agreed that they need to find out what really happened first.

The shuttle softly touched down on the glossy black landing pad, and they all got out. A red speeder was parked nearby. John went to go take a look, and ran his hand over the top of the hood, feeling some heat. "This car only came here recently," he noted."

"Interesting," said Shepard, "Stay sharp, team."

They did a quick scan of the area, then opened up the door, to find an empty elevator shaft in front of them. The inside was dark and somewhat foreboding. "Elevator disabled," said Liara, "To prevent entry or escape, I wonder."

John had to jump across the chasm and landed on a platform. Liara's jump came short and she started to fall backwards, but John's reflexes kicked in and he quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in gently.

"You alright?"

"I think so," she said, "Thanks."

"No problem."

They slid down the ladders and landed on the bottom floor.

Then John heard a noise, a sharp, eerie noise that sounded like a scream, but very faint.

"Listen," he said, stopping the group.

They all stood still and listened for a few seconds, then another noise came out a little bit louder.

"There's definitely more than one," said Liara, timidly.

"Be on your guard," said Shepard, and they moved into the darkness.

The darkness inside the next room was all enveloping. From what John could tell, it was part of some kind of lunch room, as there were tables and chairs set up for large groups of people. There were also troughs filled with decorative ferns between them. However, John's attention was focused on the dark purple splotches of blood on the floor, and the uprooted floor tiles. Another scream noise sounded off in the distance, and goosebumps formed on John's back. The whole thing was creepy.

As he walked, his huge Spartan feet bumped into a bottle that made a clamor. Liara said in surprise, "What was that?"

"Sorry Commander, that was me."

They continued to search the room until eventually John stumbled upon the dead body of an Asari in a combat suit.

Liara came up and did some scans with her omni-tool then said, "This appears to be the Commando's captain. It seems they gave their lives, fighting the Reapers."

"This Monastery is out of the way," said Shepard, "What would the Reapers want with Ardat-Yakshi?"

"Maybe they are doing to the Ardat-Yakshi what they do to all the other races, turn them into Husks, I mean," suggested John.

"Maybe, Liara did you find anything useful?"

"A Nav point location for the bomb the Commandos planted. Its in the Great Hall."

"Looks like the purge's begun," said Shepard, "If there's no survivors, we'll set off that bomb when we get to the Great Hall."

They left the dark room and exited out onto an outside Veranda. They followed its length and entered another room. They were then surprised by noise of battle, the sound of several Cannibals engaged on the ground.

One of them was tossed about and thrown towards the window, dying upon impact. "Very good," a soft, regal voice said, "I almost didn't hear you."

John looked down to see an Asari, dressed in a red jumpsuit and a gold colored tiara of some sort, strode over to them, hooking her Phalanx sidearm to her belt.

"Samara?" asked Shepard, obviously recognizing the Asari. John put his gun down, and asked, "Is she an Ardat-Yakshi, Commander?"

The being known as Samara laughed, "No, I'm afraid I'm not. It has been some time Shepard. You are a most welcome sight. The corruption here runs deep, I'm afraid."

"I assume you're hear on your own, Justicar," said Liara, leaving John further off the loop, "Perhaps for something special."

"You are correct, two of my daughters are here. I have come for them. Unfortunately," Samara explained, "The Reapers had already infested this place by the time I got here."

"I assume your daughters are more docile than Morinth," said Shepard, "If they are here."

"Correct. Rila and Falere have followed the Monastery's rules ever since they came here. They've shown no inclination towards violence."

"And you're here to save them."

"They are my responsibility, and one that can not be abandoned, even as our galaxy crumbles."

"Lets go together," suggeted Shepard, "Maybe your daughters can tell us why the Reapers hit this place."

"I suspect they will have much to tell us. It has been centuries since I last saw them."

Another scream, like the one they heard in the elevator shaft, sounded from behind them, this time even louder than before. Samara said somewhat kindly than John would have expected, "We're out of time," Samara lit up as a barrier of Biotic energy rippled across her entire body, "I'll go kill these creatures."

John and Liara pulled out their weapons. Shepard said, "Lets go," and they sped down the hallway to meet up with Samara.

* * *

**Author's Note: There was a line that Shepard said in the game, when you meet up with Samara, where he asks Samara if Falere and Rila are as dangerous as Morinth even though TEN MINUTES AGO Liara tells you that everybody at the Ardat-Yakshi monastery is docile. Shepard can be a real idiot sometimes, so I changed it. **


	36. Monastery Part 2

**Brothers In Steel Part 35: Monastery Part 2**

* * *

John exited out of the Monastery into a kind of courtyard. There was a grand sweeping vista of the mountains he had seen earlier, and a couple of small gardens populated by green ferns. The wind was cold and harsh, and the smell of smoke from an earlier battle still lingered in the air.

He walked down the stairway into the courtyard. The entrance into the monastery's lower level had a pathway lined by two sets of parallel structures, large, curved and reaching toward the sky. They were elegant in their design and gave a kind of ancient, even mystical feel to the whole place, like a temple or a mosque. For some reason, John felt a little uneasy walking through here.

Then a scream shattered the silence. A scream unlike anything John had ever heard, a scream so piercing that his ears rang from the intensity.

"Goddess, what was that?" said Liara.

A flashing orb of blue and purple energy erupted from nearby and with each flash the orb began to get closer. As it approached, John saw a hideous beast that he could not deny was an Asari, but an Asari husk. Its body was much taller, its skin wrinkled and mottled beyond recognition, its head tentacles curled and gnarled like the roots of some perverse tree.

John immediately began to fire his Reegar Carbine at the creature, but the range wasn't good enough so he quickly switched to his Carnifex pistol. He fired a few round at the creature, who had started to walk around as if it had no idea it was being fired at, until it screamed again and shot out a burst of red-white energy at the squad.

The ball hit John square in the chest and he was sent spinning onto the floor. His shields were knocked out and he could feel immense pressure being weighted down on him. Whatever it was, it had been biotic, and it felt like his skin was being contorted. He gasped for air, and then it stopped as suddenly as it had began.

Shepard and Liara were still engaging the creature, who was not going to be taken down easily, its barrier deflecting much of the fire.

John got up and started firing again, his Carnifex pounding away at the Creature's barrier.

Finally its Barriers came down, and the creature screamed once more, stomping down onto the ground and unleashing a wave of Biotic energy. This time, John was in cover and watched it sweep over.

The enemy transported itself again, flanking John's cover and got at point blank range. John had just enough time to take out his Reegar carbine, and let out a wave of Electrical energy at it. The smell of ozone rose into the air and the creature backed away in pain, trying to swat away the energy, but to no avail.

Liara sent out a ball of warp energy; the black and purple ball erupted upon impact, and the creature fell to the ground, a shimmering field of purple biotics rippling across its skin. Its body was dissolving into black and purple ashes, and its dying screams turned faint, until it reached an eerie silence.

For the first time since coming to this world, John had met an enemy that been able to put a small measure of fear in him. He shook it off and said, "Tough bastard."

"We got more over there!" Yelled Liara as a group of Cannibals arrived on the scene, ready to pick off the weak defenders.

The Cannibals were easily defeated. As the last one fell to the ground, Liara said, "That used to be a person. An Asari. What have the Reapers done?"

"Same thing they've been doing to the others," noted John flatly.

"It never felt so real until now," said Liara, "I now understand your hardships more."

"Good," said Shepard, as the three of them entered the building.

The minute they got in, John saw an Asari in a white dress, her biotics flared up, running away from a Cannibal. John quickly shot it down with his pistol and it fell to the ground with a _thump._

Within an instant, Samara arrived on the scene. When lined up, John could see a bit of resemblance, both having a regal apperance to them, the same pointed features. But the Asari in the white dress had some kind of tattoos on her face, which gave her the apperance of having eyebrows, when there were none.

"Mother, you came," said the Asari.

"As soon as I was able," said Samara. She turned to Shepard, "Shepard, this is my youngest, Falere. She and her sister Rila are Ardat-Yakshi..."

"Mother!" interrupted Falere, "They have Rila!"

"What?"

"I saw some of those creatures take her into the great hall," explained Falere, "I've been trying to get there!"

"What are the Reapers doing here?" asked Shepard.

"Isn't it obvious," said John, "They're harvesting these Asari. Turning them into those...Banshees." John pointed over to a dead Reaperized Asari over on the other side of the room. They were even somewhat frightening in death, when one could see all the modifications in place.

"Please," begged Falere, "You can't let that happen to Rila!"

"The Asari thought the Ardat-Yakshi were to blame for the attack," said Shepard.

"This is our home," said Falere defiantly, "Most of us our grateful to be here. The Monastery is a place where we can achieve peace."

"Falere speaks truthfully," added Samara, "I will vouch for her words with pride."

"Then we need to find that bomb fast," said Shepard.

Falere was shocked, "A bomb? Didn't you come to rescue us?"

"We'll try. But we can't leave this place standing Falere."

"You sound like the Commandos, they didn't stop to help anyone!"

"Falere..." said Samara warningly.

Falere seemed like she didn't know what to do. John held his gun at the ready in case he needed to. Then the young Asari said, "I'm sorry," and ran away.

The small group tried to chase after her, but they were too late, and Falere jumped over the side of a balcony. Using her biotics she gently lowered down to the ground like a leaf, and starting walking towards the great hall.

Samara said, "The Great Hall, she's looking for Rila." Samara did the same as Rila and jumped over the balcony.

"We'll meet up there," said Shepard.

"Shepard, be swift," said Samara, and with that, she ran off as well.

* * *

**Author's Note: A lot of people have mentioned the Citadel DLC, and while I think that would be cool, I do not believe I will be doing that. I don't want to give away spoilers, but it will make sense how that won't be appropriate later on. **


End file.
